Buried Memories
by autumn-leaf16
Summary: Sequel to Hidden Secrets, the very happy life of Hotohori and Yuri OC are threatened when Tenkou began to break from his seals, as a result they must return to the universe of the four gods and come to term with their past . Please read and review!
1. Prologue

_Author's Note: After a long time of writing and pondering I decided to put this up, although it gets really weird at time. As for why I started to write again, I think it is because with Fushigi Yugi I have the desire of committing myself to such a project, a feeling that I have not feel for any other manga or anime. I might think of some thing that I want to do but I wouldn't actually do it._

_So I decided to continue with my original plan, which had been writing about what happens in Fushigi Yugi volume 14-18, the whole thing with Tenkou. Then I was reading Genbu Kaiden and that actually inspired me to do another fan fiction, and then I came up with the most crazy idea that is like a prologue story for Fushigi Yugi and Genbu Kaiden. The point is I decided to write again so please read my story and review it, as it will be such a motivation._

_Warning: I now realized, after watching anime, that I start to dislike Miaka quite a bit, although I am not sure why. I also dislike Yui, as I think she is quite…annoying? I really dislike how she says she understand when she doesn't seem to. I am biased but I think I would like her better if she actually feels guilty for what she did to Konan. I don't really know why but I just really don't like Miaka, I think it is because I feel that she never fully grasp the situation. So, if you like these two then don't read this story! Another thing I noticed is that I am more interested in the warriors of Seiryuu now, so hopefully I will talk about them more._

_But anyway, here is the story. The prologue is a bit of a summary and foreshadowing though, so don't expect too much from it. Lastly, if you are haven't read my first story then please don't read this one until you finished reading "hidden secrets" as it wouldn't make sense otherwise._

_

* * *

__There is a great legend of love in the world of the universe of the four gods, about two people who gave up everything just for the sake of the one that they love._

_The forth emperor of Konan, Saihitei, was one of the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku, the guardian of Konan. He was a highly skilled swordsman as well as being a very wise ruler despite his youth, but that is no longer what first comes to the mind of anyone in the world where he had once lived in._1

_They think of him as a man who was so deeply in love that he ended up abandoning everything just to be with her. It was said that when Suzaku offered him the choice of leaving everything in this world in order to be reunited with the one that he love, he agreed without any hesitation._2

"_You will no longer be an emperor, but only an ordinary person in her original world." Suzaku had told the young but wise emperor._

"_All I ever truly want is to be with her." Saihitei answered calmly, tightening his embrace on her sleeping form._

_His people does not condemn him as he had been partially responsible for them to be enjoying their now peaceful life, he had contributed in this event along with the priestess of Suzaku and the other companions. Sine his successor, his younger brother, is fair, the people of Konan could remember him fondly, and view his action affectionately by weaving it into a romantic legend._

_For the rest of the world, they are pleased enough by this legend that they could tell at winter gatherings or to little children whenever they demanded it._

_Whenever he is mentioned, his empress' part would be spoke of with equal importance, just as Saihitei was regarded as a man deeply in love, Houkigou was his counterpart, as well as being the receiver of his love,_

_Before, the only thing most people would know about this empress would be that she was the consort of the emperor, who loved her deeply, and before a few might have heard the rumours of how the emperor refused to elect another concubine even though she was believed to be barren._

_Now, she plays an equal proportion in their story, and in Kutou she would even be regarded as the more important character as she was the priestess of Seiryuu, the god of Kutou._

_Houkigou had wanted to save the one she loved so much that she choose to became the priestess of Seiryuu, ending up dying for Saihitei in order to let Suzaku to be summoned by his priestess so that Konan would be saved, along with his life._

_Those who witnessed her death all agreed that it had been a truly horrifying sight to watch the god dug himself out of her body. Then they would add about how amazing it was that she never once uttered any sound of pain despite how much it must have hurt. _

_Thus the people of Konan remembers their forth emperor and empress with great love, and regard them as greatly responsible for saving Konan with the priestess of Suzaku._

_In Kutou, the legend would be especially elaborated in the bit when Houkigou was the priestess of Seiryuu. This was not surprising, as the people owned their now peaceful life and the new wise emperor due to her actions. She might have done it only out of love for Saihitei of Konan, but the people of Kutou still worshiped her as she changed their lives for the good so dramatically._

_Even though she was not loved or even cherished as the priestess of Suzaku was by her celestial warriors, the deep awe and love from the people of Kutou certainly made up for that._

_Because their priestess was also the empress of Konan, the two countries that were once main rivals actually managed to have a much better relationship, although old wounds could never be completely healed, there would always be some scars._

_The legend ends with the promise of happiness to Saihitei and Houkigou in their new life._

_Unknown to anyone, that promise would soon be broken because very shortly, they would be forced to return to the world that they had left behind._

_

* * *

_

1 Since I didn't get to use the full Japanese phrase in Hidden Secrets I thought I'll use it in this version. So Hotohori is Saihitei (which really literally translates to Emperor Saihi, and this is what is actually used in the original story) while I can describe Yuri as Houkigou (which literally means Empress Houki,)

2 Even though I think Hotohori would have been very happy to be able to give up his throne if it means he could be with the woman he loves, he was quite sad that he couldn't go with Miaka and he did say that if he was free he would have been at her side. But seeing it from everyone else's view: giving up one's kingdom for a woman would be regarded as a very extreme action, as you do sacrifice a lot of stuff and luxury, even if they didn't really want the responsibility that comes with it in the first place.

* * *

_Author's Note: the next chapter is rea__lly the official start of the story, so please at least read the next chapter before you decided that my story suck. If you liked it in anyway, then please leave me a review!_


	2. Chapter One

Yuri sat by the window, watching Seishuku, who was working hard outside on the fields. Usually she would be helping him, or at the very least doing some sort of task that would help the farmers of the village indirectly.

But she was ordered by everyone to stay out of the summer sun, just in case she would be harmed somehow along with the children that would soon arrive into this world.

Smiling happily she rested her hand over her abdomen again, very soon she and Seishuku would finally be parents, what they wanted for such a long time. For this dream to come true, she would do anything, even if that mean being treated as a piece of glass ready to break at the slightest vibration.

When she was empress she had been carefully guarded too as one in her role must be, being constantly accompanied by guards or her maids, but that had been different, she had the power to walk anywhere in the palace. Right now, everyone seemed to think that even walking would harm her and the children inside.

It had been eight months since she married Seishuku, or she could say that she remarried him, and soon it would be one year since they got reunited again.

Yuri was very happy with her new life, she had all that she wanted, along with additional happiness that she never expected. Not only was she with Hotohori/Seishuku again, she was close to Miaka as a sister should be, and her parents in law really became like parents to her.

"I am very happy, please be at peace." she whispered out her only regret, as she touched her hair. Even though she was no longer shadowed by the death of her mother, she still missed the woman who loved her best, and sometimes she would wished rather wistfully that her mother could be beside her, seeing her grandchildren.

"Are you feeling well, Yuri?" her mother in law asked in concern as she entered her son and daughter in law's room, carrying a glass of water.

"I am fine, I'm pregnant, not sick!" she laughed. "You and otousan can be as bad as Seishuku sometimes, you don't have to take care of me that much! I'll be fine!"1

"You are like our own daughter, Yuri." The older woman said with true affection in her voice. "And now you are carrying my grandchildren."

At the plural Yuri smiled, she had been shocked when the village midwife told her that she was carrying twins.

"And there will be at least one son." The midwife had promised.

"I don't care about that!" Seishuku had declared out as he pulled his wife into his embrace. "As long as they are Yuri's then that is enough to make me love them madly!"

"I also came because there are some letters for you and Seishuku." Saying so, her mother in law took out the bundles of papers that were covered by the tray.

The village of Konan was isolated so the most effective way of communication was through letters, not that there were many as few would leave the village.

Opening the first letter Yuri immediately smiled, Miaka's letter was filled with repeated congratulations as well as the trivia in her school along with saying how happy she was with Taka. The last paragraph consist the confirmation of her visiting very soon and staying in order for the birth of her nephew and/or niece.

Her other letter was from her brother, it was not as long as Miaka's letter but the fondness in it was still very clear, they were both linked due to their affection for their younger sister. He ended with the apology of not being able to come to see her as he was tied up in doing some thing for the society he was in at university.

"I am really glad that my sister will be able to stay here until the children's birth." She said rather happily as she carefully folded the letter and tucked it in with the rest of her letters. It was truly a shock to discover how much Miaka actually wanted to be her sister. Most of the time, she was grateful for that.

"It happens to be at summer vacation too, although it is amazing how small the world seems to be. You were Ju-An's flatmate and then your half sister become Ryoen's friend."

"Maybe it is fate." Yuri said this with a slight smile on her lips.

Seishuku choose to enter, he was clad in the village's traditional plain working cloths with his hair tied in a red ribbon. He was carrying a large tray of food for his wife, and with her pregnancy Yuri's appetite increased very dramatically.2

"I swear you can compete with Miaka now with the amount of food that you eat." He teased her lightly after he kissed her, and then acknowledged the presence of his mother with a nod.

"You have some letters, Seishuku." she told him before she left the two people who were still very much in love.

"Letters…this one is from Ryoen." Seishuku said, he sat down beside her and pressed his hand over her's. "He says that he will be returning to the village in his holidays, well, we all know that…and he…what is wrong?"

Yuri's face darkened considerably at the mentioning of his 'brother'. Sighing she leant against him before she spoke.

"He still doesn't approve of your marriage."

"He will understand as soon as he remembers who he had been." He reassured her.

* * *

Miaka had wanted to visit the village of Konan as soon as she heard about it from Hotohori, who was now called Seishuku. She was filled with the excitement and curiosity at seeing what the equivalent of the kingdom would be in Japan.

"I told you before, Miaka, it is only a small village. Apart from those who are native there, Konan is nothing interesting." Ryoen muttered at Miaka, who was eagerly peering out of the window again at the sight of the station. "And I will tell you when we arrive there!"

"But it is interesting!" Taka quickly defended Miaka.

"Why?" Ryoen asked rather flatly.

At this Taka froze, after all, he couldn't exactly say it was because in his past life he had lived in a country that bore the same name, and technically their village was almost like a reincarnation of the kingdom the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku had been from.

"Well, the legends of Konan…" Taka quickly yelled out. "How the village have Chinese tradition instead of being influenced by Japanese culture…"

"You have been talking too way much with Keisuke." Genro muttered. "I am really surprised that he didn't just drop everything and charge here."

"But why are you here?" Ju-An asked good naturedly, "You are not from this village, and you are not related to Yuri in anyway."

"Neither is he!" Genro pointed to Taka. "But lover boy is here because he couldn't even be parted with Miaka for a few seconds. Because he doesn't want to be seen as an intruder, lover boy here drags me to accompany him!"

"What did you just call me!"

Miaka was going to the village to see Yuri; naturally Taka was beside her; Genro was somehow there due to the insistence of Miaka and Taka, who hoped that the sight of the village of Konan might be able to trigger some of his memories as Taisuki. Due to this reason, Dokun was there too, but he knew Yuri to some extent and he was Ryoen's good friend.

The only one missing was Hojun, according to Ju-An he was somewhere in South Korea now.

"The one person who should be here." Ju-An muttered out. "He is one of Seishuku's best friends, and that poor girl…"

"What are you talking about? What girl?" Miaka asked innocently, just as she had in their previous lives, she managed to quickly earn their affection in this current life too.

Ju-An was just about to explain when Ryoen let out another sigh.

"Why is it that the two who should have married a long time ago is still not marrying, while the one who should have took his time married immediately?"3

"You mean Seishuku should have waited?" Ju-An asked.

"He married someone he didn't even know! You told me that Houki Yuri…"

'Konan Yuri." The elder quickly corrected. "She is married to him and her name…"4

"That's not the point!" Ryoen snapped in frustration. "He just proposed to someone in their first meeting and then he married her only after three months! You told me that Yuri never once mentioned anything about Seishuku, and vice versa…"

"I admit that their meeting had been very strange but Ryoen, your brother is truly happy with his marriage!"

"What if she just married him for wealth?"

At this Ju-An burst out into laughter, this unusual display of emotion from the one who was always very quiet silenced everyone, including Taka and Genro, who were engaged in another fight.

"Ryoen, Ryoen, Ryoen, your brother is the future village leader of our village and for those in Konan that is indeed a prestigious role, but outside Konan no one would regard Seishuku as a rich man, he would only been seen as the future heir to some small village that no one ever heard of. You talk as if Seishuku was an emperor and Yuri was set out to ensnare him!"5

* * *

Having come from Tokyo, Yuri was used to seeing people still wandering outside if she ever peered out from the window of her rather shabby apartment on the nights that she couldn't sleep. Sometimes she would just sit by the window and read, occasionally looking outside.

Tokyo had been a city that never sleeps, unlike her new home. Funnily enough the real Konan was probably more like Tokyo then the village of Konan. There were usually guards patrolling around the palace every hour of the day, they might be kept out from her private quarters but they were still stationed just outside, never completely away.

The quietness almost seemed unnatural, although it was very comfortable. She was sitting by the window again, enjoying the view just as she had in day time. As she carefully untangled herself from Seishuku's embrace, her husband muttered slightly and tried to held onto her tightly. Bending down, she kissed him, causing him to cease the subconscious' movements.

In the first few months that she came here, before the children in her belly grew this big, she would spend many of her nights outside, content in spending the whole night watching the stars. In Tokyo, a person could never truly see the stars this clearly due to the towering buildings in almost all part of the town, the only possibility was to go to the famous Tokyo tower.6

As for Konan, she had lived in the palace in the capital, the buildings in the palace themselves prevented her from seeing the stars clearly.

"They are so pretty," she would whisper to Seishuku, pointing at somewhere random in the sky. "The stars are like beads plaited in the hair of the fairies."

"I'll plait flowers into your hair so you can have beads that rival the fairies." he had said, running his hand through her long hair as he actually began to pick some flowers.

That was how they come up with the name of their daughter, if they would have a daughter.

Ryoen would be returning tomorrow with Ju-An, along side with her sister and Tamahome. She knew that this would be regarded as quite an excitement for the rest of the village, as they rarely get any visitors.

What did she feel about it? When her parents in law asked her she had laughed and said that she was overjoyed to see her sister as that was surely a great act of affection to ask a young girl to come to such a place in her long waited holiday.

But secretly…secretly she was not so sure. In the village of Konan she had been very happy as she was rarely reminded of her past, something that would cease to happen when those who had been the warriors of Suzaku returns here.

Miaka…most of all, Yuri did not know how to face Miaka. Initially she had been overjoyed at the fact that Miaka wanted to be her sister even to ask Suzaku to alter their past, but now she was not so sure. It seemed too unfair for a person to redeem them self in such a fashion.

The action might have happened but it did not happen in a way that she was aware off. She woke up knowing about these changes, but she remembered what had happened in her first life so much more clearly. All that she did in her second life only seemed like an act.

Someone, probably Miaka, told her that they had been very close but these memories of time spent with Miaka did not seem real to her, it only seemed like a performance.

What she remembered more clearly was how she was taken away by that man who smiled at everyone but her, she tried to hold at the end of his coat, only to have him unwind her fingers. It was not a rough act, but the pained caused by the rejection from her own father never left.

Then she had stood alone, with only her doll as a protection. It was the last toy that her mother had ever given her, she could still remember how happy she was on that day. Her old doll had broken to the point that her mother threw it away, and she had spent a week crying for her.

Walking across the room, Yuri took her precious doll down from the shelf, one of the few things she had left of her mother. Even though Seishuku had teased her about placing a doll like that on his book shelf, which contained his collection of legends he was glad of her action: it was an acceptance of her mother's death, and she was no longer afraid of her past as she openly displayed the object.

Yuri smiled as she examined the doll, this was one of the few things that she missed quite a lot when she was in Konan, she had been quite happy to discover that it was still sitting on the little table in her shabby apartment.

The most distinguished thing about the doll was that it had very long hair that was bound in the same way as her, when Miaka's mother forced her to cut her hair, Yuri had practised on her doll instead.

This doll was her only solace in these days, living with a father who saw her presence as a mistake.

She had held the doll in her hand as she watched the two strangers fight, turning, she saw two kids standing near the door, peeping in.

Were they her new siblings? She recollected something about how she had a brother and a sister, they seemed scared of her, maybe they would understand…

She actually walked toward them, but they turned away from her, running out of the doorway.

Later on, whenever she saw either of her new siblings they would quickly turn away from her. She knew that this was partly done due to their mother's orders, and she never held this as a grudge against them. After all, Houki Yuri's presence caused the illusion of a happy family break apart.

The past was always what could not be changed, and everyone had to pay for the consequences of their actions. If Miaka truly wanted to be a sister to her, then she should amend the actions she did in the past in the present instead of simply altering the past.

She held the doll tighter, seeming to be a little girl once more. Why was she unable to simply just let everything go? Did not she have all she wanted? A family. A man who love her, with her siblings loving her as well.

The ignorance had hurt and alters her, making her into the way she had been. A woman who was afraid of being loved as not even those who should loved her did, a woman who was also yearning for love as she had received little love.

It seemed so unfair that all this could be changed just because of one wish. Miaka seemed to truly believe that she could change the past completely.

It did not turn out that way, the memories of Miaka giving her a present was suppressed by what she regarded as the truth: walking alone because she had nowhere to go, refusing to go home because there was no one who would care.

The line of happiness…they were all just what she said in a dream.7

* * *

Seishuku was still slightly paranoid by how Yuri had left him when he was sleeping when he had been Hotohori, he could still feel all the emotions that he had experienced when he realized that she was gone because of him.

That was why he tended to get worried when she was not in his arms, as the past could not be forgotten so easily.

But his worry was quickly gone, as he saw her standing beside the now opened window, with that doll in her hand, her fingers absently adjusting the doll's hair do.

"Can you not sleep?" he asked tenderly as he draped the blanket over her, he was told that it would not be unusual for her to be sleepless as her pregnancy would affect her mood very strongly.

She nodded as she used her free hand to adjust the blanket, while her other hand placed the doll down so she could take her husband's hand.

"Are you thinking about your mother again?" Seishuku asked, he knew that she was rather sad at the fact that her mother did not have the opportunity to see her daughter in a respectful marriage made from love, and the opportunity to see her grandchildren.

Yuri gave another nod.

"We can go to Tokyo and see her as soon as you recover from the children's birth." He told her. "We can stay with Ju-An or Ryoen when we get there."

"I like that idea." Yuri said, smiling. "I believe that they would be able to meet if we go to her grave."

"Yuri…do you believe in an afterlife?" he finally asked.

This question had plagued him ever since he remembered his past as Hotohori, as he naturally recollected her death. But he did not mention this at all, as Tamahome had told him exactly what had happened to Yuri when Seiryuu began to devour her.

"I do." Yuri whispered. "And I even remember some of it."

Softly, she began to describe what had happened when she died. Contrary to what she had thought of death, it was a not a sleep.

* * *

_She had been standing in what seemed like an elaborate temple for all the four gods in the universe of the four gods as she could see all four statues. _

_Seiryuu's statue was right beside her, someone whom she no longer remembers had smiled at her as they helped her up. Then another approached her, and dimly she could recollect the embrace the other gave her._

_But she could no longer recall their faces at all, not the two who stood right beside her, or the others who were at some distant, slowly approaching her. All she could remember was Seiryuu and Suzaku, who quickly ordered the others to leave her._

"_But she is finally here! Everything has finished! Why should she suffer again?" someone had said out angrily, grabbing her even more tightly._

_Sadly, she could not even remember the gender of this voice that was full of concern for her._

"_Let her go back once more to live life as she always wanted to." Seiryuu commanded, but his voice was rather kind. "She would be happy, and then she would come back here."_

"_Because of the priestess of Suzaku?" someone else demanded._

"_Do not forget that you were all responsible for what happened to her too." Suzaku interrupted before he turned to Yuri. "Come, priestess of Seiryuu, I will return you to Hotohori."_

"_But why should she go now? He will come to her anyway!" the first speaker protested again, not releasing their hold on her._

"_Do they not deserve one happy life?" a new speaker interrupted, but this was not Seiryuu or Suzaku's voice. Turning, Yuri saw two people standing beside the statue of Genbu, one being the speaker. "Let them have one normal life, the life that she dreamt of having before she was chosen to this fate."_8

* * *

"That is all I remember." Yuri ended. "But it is enough to make me realize that death is nothing to be frightened of, as it is an afterlife that I will return to with you."

"What of the people there? Do you remember them?" he asked curiously.

At this she shook her head, all she could recollect was how a strand of reddish brown hair slapped her body slightly when that person pulled her into an embrace, while the last speaker's eyes had not matched.

"Seishuku, do you know the legend of Genbu and Byakko?" she asked impulsively, recollecting the two figures that had been beside the statue of Genbu. Perhaps they were related to Genbu in some fashion? Although she could not remember any of the people near her, and she doubted that she would recognize them even if they were the warriors of Seiryuu.

"I know a little as I had hoped to find out more about the priestess of Suzaku through the legends of the other priestesses." Seishuku admitted, recollecting how he had once thought of the priestess of Suzaku as the symbol of perfection.

When he was Hotohori, he had wished that Yuri was the priestess of Suzaku instead, as he could then regard her as his first priority without being reminded that she was not. As an emperor Yuri lost to his kingdom, while as a celestial warrior of Suzaku he was meant to protect the priestess of Suzaku instead of the one who turned out to be the priestess of Seiryuu.

"I know that the priestess of Genbu was the first priestess to summon Genbu, and because she was not virginal she was…" his voice began to shook as he was remembering how the exact same thing had happened to Yuri.

"The sacrifice." Yuri concluded for him.

He nodded, and continued. "It was said that she was in love with one of her warriors, and it was because of him that she lost her virginity. Other then that, I do not know.9

"Two of her warriors guard the shinzaho, and when Miaka took them they were allowed to go back to heaven after two hundred years. Apparently they were the first two warriors that died. The names of the Genbu celestial warriors are Uruki; Tomite; Hatsui; Namame; Hikitsu; Inami and Urumiya."

"Hikitsu? Urumiya?" she repeated these names, there was a strange sense of familiarity in them.

"As for the story of Byakko, I know even less." Seishuku continued. "All I have heard is that the priestess of Byakko loved one of her celestial warriors as the priestess of Genbu did, only that she remained virginal when she called out the god. She left this world as Byakko did not grant her wish of being with her lover."

There was no familiar name among the celestial warriors of Byakko, although she realized that she was beginning to feel rather angry.

"Miaka really is lucky." She said rather bitterly. "She could have her wish granted, unlike the others."

"We are so happy now, more then anyone, so why think of the past?" he employed out. Taking her hand, Seishuku led her back to their bed, and held her against him, with their unborn children between them. "Isn't that what you always say to me?"

Yuri could only nod, as she would often repeat these words during the first few months of their reunion, Seishuku could not manage to forgive Seiryuu for what he had to do to her.

"Do you think of me as selfish?" she asked.

Her question left a strong impact on him, as he had a very strange dream that night.

* * *

_Yuri was kneeling in front of something, dressed as the priestess of Seiryuu as he managed to recognize the shade of her dress._10

_He was walking to her…running. But it was too late, he knew it was too late even before she turned around._

_The dagger was already stabbed in her body, although it could not have been very long ago, as her hand was still around the hilt._

"_Am I selfish in wanting to be loved?" she whispered as she fell into his arms._

_He was crying and so was she, but her tears was silent, she did not wipe her tears at all because they had become natural. Raising a hand she pointed toward the sky…_

"_He died for our crime, for our sin." She whispered. "I will pay for my crimes with my death."_

_He wanted to pick her up to take her somewhere but she only shook her head._

"_I cannot go back due to what I did. I will be killed as soon as any of them sees me."_

"_By being one of the chosen you would know when I die, just as you felt his death. Hotohori…I killed myself because I don't want you to abandon your priestess and find me in the world of mortals…my old world. I let Nakago die because I refused to name you as the one responsible. Because I want you to live!"_11

* * *

He would have told Yuri about the strange dream but he never had the chance, as their children announced their decision of wanting to come out that very morning. Between worrying about Yuri, as well as being assured that his children would not be born before he gets back from the train station in order to take his brother and friends back to Konan, he forgot about the dream completely.12

* * *

1 Yuri actually calls her father in law otousan, and her mother in law kaasan. I don't know if they do this in Japan but I know that in china, it is not unnatural to call your in laws father and mother, if you are rather close to them. Although according to the online Japanese dictionary that I use, there is the word 'gifu', which means father-in-law/foster father/step father, and gibo, which means mother-in-law/foster mother/step mother. But anyway, Yuri is actually using the more formal term in addressing her in laws, while she calls her own birth mother haha, which is kind of like mummy.

2 The traditional costume for the village of Konan is very much like the cloths of the kingdom of Konan, as I mentioned before Yuri's wedding gown looked very much like what she had wore as the empress. In this scene Hotohori would be wearing clothes that look like the one he wore when he traveled with Miaka and the rest…the clothes he wore for his disguise?

3 As this fan fiction is extended, I thought I'll bring in the issue of Ryoen not being fully happy with his brother's marriage due to various reasons. I guess this is due to the tiny amount of memory he have of being Nuriko.

4 Every one in the village has the last name of Konan.

5 Once again, an ironic little remark that I just couldn't help but to add in. Although it is important to remember that Yuri didn't actually enjoy being an empress that much, and the whole urgency of producing an heir almost made her mad. Plus, she didn't agree to marry Hotohori until three months later, and that was because she loves him, not because he was an emperor.

6 This is inspired by the story in volume one of Tokyo Babylon. Just a slight mentioning, although the stars do play a very big part in Fushigi Yugi.

7 I quite like this, it kind of talk about Yuri's character more, and it will make her outburst more sensible.

8 This bit is related to the weird prologue story for Fushigi Yugi that I want to write, it is a crazy idea but I some how decided to do it. This will get explained at the end of the story (hopefully)  I won't say much about it, other then the fact that it is set kind of in heaven (where the celestial warriors are from, in Genbu Kaiden it said that the celestial warriors were sent down by Taiitsukun ). It will be a bit of an explanation as to why everything happened.

I think some people might not like the ideas of the prologue at all, but I want to write it so I will.

9 In my story priestesses can call out their god even if they are not virginal, the only consequence is that she will be eaten by the god. I explained this in hidden secrets in more detail so if this is confusing then I suggest for hidden secret to be read. As for Takiko's actions, I will explain this later.

10 This is a dream, but it is also a flashback, it's linked to my prologue story. And that is a very radical (?), well crazy story.

11 I guess you can say this is like the past life of their past life, before their lives as the celestial warriors in the fushigi yugi story.

* * *

_Author's Note: Yeah! Chapter one done, as always I hoped that someone like it and begs for a review. Chapter two will be put up when I have time and that might be not for some while, hopefully the plot would be visible in the next chapter._


	3. Chapter Two

_Author's Note: I am so glad that people are reading this and a big as thank you to the two people who left review for my story. Since one of them said that they couldn't quite remember what happened in the first one, I thought I'll give a basic summary._

_Houki Yuri arrived in the universe of the four gods and she was elected as a concubine. As soon as Hotohori saw her, he felt in love with her. She was not so sure so he waited for three months until she agreed to marry him and doing so made her the empress. She learnt about the story of the priestess when she was no longer virginal, since she didn't want to die she didn't tell anyone that she was from another world, so they married and were very happy until 1 and 1/2 year later as she was seen as being barren so Hotohori's advisors were pressing him to elect another empress._

_Two years after their marriage Miaka arrived and it is revealed that Yuri is her half-sister. Out of fear that Hotohori would hate her when Miaka reveals that she was from the other world Yuri left and tried to find the rest of the celestial warriors as a way of repentance. She learnt about how Suzaku could not be called out (scroll got burnt and shinzahos got stolen) in a dream from Seiryuu- who told her that she arrived in the world to be the priestess of Seiryuu. _

_Realizing that there was no way she could be with Hotohori she decided to summon Seiryuu and die in the process, now wiling do die if she could let Hotohori live. She made her three wish 1let Suzaku be summoned out; 2for Kutou to be a country that will be in peace with Konan, and this required her to kill her own warriors and the current emperor, as they would be a threat as long as they live; 3to let Hotohori be happy which Seiryuu could not grant, so she went to see Hotohori a last time and wished that he would not see her death. She died and Miaka summoned Suzaku and made her wish: 1let Yuri be reborn; 2let everybody in Konan be happy; 3be with Tamahome forever. _

_Suzaku said he could only let them be together if they were willing to be reborn in Miaka's world and they agreed, and so did their others as they want to be with them. For Miaka's sake Suzaku altered some of the past involving her and Yuri as that was a way to make her happy. The warriors did not remember their past life, but Taka remembered it when he met Miaka, and Hothori remembered it when he met Yuri._

**

* * *

**By the time that the train finally arrived in the right station, its passengers were quite happy to get off, as it had been about half a day.1 

Miaka was probably the happiest person to be arriving, apart from the two that was returning as a native. She had wanted to come to Yuri's wedding but was unable to, as her mother and stepfather had also decided for that time to be a family vacation.

The six of them were able to make their way out of the train station rather fast because few people get off at this station. As they expected, they saw the familiar sight of the village's cart, accompanied by Seishuku, who was pacing so agitatedly that he did not notice their presence.

"Aniki!" Ryoen cried out joyfully as he was met with a warm hug from the brother whom he loved a lot.2

"Oh, you arrived already!" Seishuku laughed, but they all sensed a sense of nervousness in his laughter. "I'm sorry, but I was too occupied with my thoughts."

"Is something wrong with our parents, Aniki?" his brother naturally asked in concern.

"No, Chichi and Haha are both fine. It is just that Yuri is in labour right now." 3

"So soon?" Miaka called out, dumping all her luggage on Taka so she could run forward. "I thought that it would be a few days more and…"

"According to the village midwife it is normal for children to be born maybe one week or even two weeks earlier or later then the expected date." The listeners couldn't help but to wonder whether he was assuring himself or them, as he was clearly very worried.

"Well, on behalf of the village of Konan," he began the tradition that was rarely practiced as few people would go there, the last time a formal welcome was given was when Yuri arrived. "Since my father the village leader is unable to be here, I, his eldest son and heir stands in his place, to welcome you all."

"I'm so happy to be here!" Miaka cried out happily as soon as Seishuku finished speaking. "I am so glad to see neesan again. Is she well? Is she happy?"

"We are very happy, so much more then we thought that we could ever be." Seishuku said, referring to their past life.

"Aniki…you are really happy then?" Ryoen said very softly as they began to head back toward the village.

At this his brother frowned, as Ryoen knew that he would. This question was not as innocent as it sounded because even up to the day of the actual wedding, Ryoen had suggested that he should wait a bit longer- which caused some strain in the brothers' relationship.

It was not his fault that he could not remember his life as Nuriko, Seishuku would say to himself as he was staring to feel angry. Why should he not be with Yuri immediately after what happened?

He did not know that you were married to her for two years, to him you just met her and proposed to her on the very same day, he repeated again, but surely by now…

"I am very happy with my life, Ryoen." He said in equal softness to push back the initiating anger. "I know that you are worried about what might happen because Yuri and I got married after a very short engagement but we really are happy, because we really do love each other."

"But you asked her to marry you in your first meeting!" Ryoen began once more, that was always what frustrated him.

Behind them, Ju-An gave a rather indiscreet cough and began speaking. Like Ryoen, he had been rather sceptical about his best friend's very hasty engagement and marriage, but he quickly got over it when he saw, with most people, how happy they were. But then, he would be rather biased, as he and Houki Yuri had been good friends.4

The two of them had talked of marriage once, when he somehow mentioned his engagement. She had congratulated him and he still remembered her words rather clearly: she would never marry for a mercenary reason.

"I have a job and I have supported myself since I was very young, and I grew up in a household that had a tragic marriage, that is why I would not marry for such reasons. If I ever marry, I want a happy marriage."

"Seishuku, I hope you still remember Dokun? He is our landlady's son, who is now quite good friends with Ryoen." Everyone knew that he said this to interrupt the possibility of a fight. Both brothers shot him a grateful look as the two brothers had always been close, so this new conflict was something that frustrated both of them.

"Of course I remember him and his mother, how is she? She is such a kind woman." Seishuku quickly said. "Yuri always talks about how grateful she is that her stuff was not thrown away, and that her old room was not even rented out."

"She is in good health, she asked after Yuri, hoping that she is happy with her marriage…" at this Dokun quickly shot a glance at Ryoen but conveniently his friend was busily talking with Genro.

Thus, they managed to arrive back rather peacefully.

**

* * *

**Yuri was surrounded by her mother in law, the village midwife, as well as many other women in the village who were mothers. In a way, she found this rather amusing: this dedicated attention which had been given to her since the moment her water first broke.5 

"The labour will not be very long, but you will be fine." The midwife reassured her as she began to scatter numerous herbs in the room.

"How is Seishuku?" Yuri asked her mother in law.

"Worried as a new father would be, worrying as bad as his father was when he was born." she said with a reminiscent smile. "His father was so shocked when he heard about the birth of Seishuku that he didn't know which direction to walk."

"And you sent Seishuku to the train station?" Yuri protested, visualising an image of her husband driving to some wilderness due to his worry, which was very clear when she told him that their children are going to be born this day.

"He will be with Ju-An and Ryoen, they can take over the driving if he get too nervous. Beside," her mother in law reassured her with a careless wave of hand. "They, the fathers, need something to do, otherwise their worry is going to affect everyone negatively."

"When Seishuku was born his father kept on pacing so much in the next room that it was beginning to distract all of us." The midwife explained. "That was why we sent him to fetch us my extra basket of herbs from my home."

Yuri herself was not worried about the birth of her children at all, although she was not unaware about the danger of pregnancy that existed both today and in Konan: her two maids' mother had died in giving birth to them. But she was not worried at all as she knew that she was in excellent hands, and somehow she was also very sure that the children she and Seishuku had wanted so much would not create difficulties for their arrival. The hard bit seemed to be their conception.

Automatically, Yuri began to think what it must have been like when she was born. From her birth certificate she knew where she was born: the hospital that also housed her for three years due to that 'car accident'6

She was a child from an affair so her arrival was naturally not waited eagerly by her father, she wonder whether he even knew that she was going to be born?

Her mother had run away from her home when she was only fourteen, with a boy that became her first lover. Yuri had never heard of anything from her grandparents, although she did ask about them once.

"Oh darling, we should not worry about them." Her mother had laughed out, as she gave her only child a warm embrace. "You do not need to know them."7

"Why don't they come and see us? Everyone else's grandparents come and see them." Yuri had asked in one of the opening days of school, where parents and grandparents all came. Her mother was naturally there, but she could not help but so feel sad as everyone else had at least both parents if they were not surrounded by doting grandparents and other relatives.8

"Well, they…along with my other relatives…don't think that you should have been born because I am not married, so that is why I refused to have them visit us." Her mother announced proudly, making her daughter believe that her grandparents would have come if it wasn't for her mother, instead of the opposite way.

Later on, Yuri would discover that Houki Chiai was only the perfect mother, as she did not achieve any success in all the other categories. As a daughter she was most likely a rebel, running off at fourteen from a home that was relatively comfortable; as a lover she was probably a failure as she indulged in various relationships that never worked.9

So she must have been alone when her daughter was going to be born. Yuri shuddered as she thought about what it must have been like, lying on the cold hospital bed alone with no one to reassure you that it would be alright, with no one waiting…

She could not even understand how her mother even managed to be in a love affair with a married man. How could you love someone, even if it was not a permanent love, knowing that they would never be with you?

But the ironic thing was that her mother was a perfect mother, even though her daughter did wonder why she only had a mother, she was perfectly happy as long as her mother was there.

Yuri had been her mother's first priority, there were even times when her mother broke up with her new boyfriends because they could not accept the little girl's appearance and dominance.10

"Sp please help me now, Haha." she whispered when the first spasm of serious pain began. Someone grabbed her hand, it must be her mother in law, but with the tears in her eyes she could almost see that blurred figure as her mother.

Her mother in law grabbed her hand tightly as the difficult part of the birthing began, once more, she was glad that her son was not here, as he would surely start to panic if he heard Yuri's screams.

The pain of birthing was something that no woman could get used to, no matter how many children she has. She herself had screamed just as much at Ryoen's birth, even though he was the second child.

"Haha…" at this address she knew that her daughter in law was no longer thinking of her, but of her real mother. She wished that she knew more of the other woman so that she could reassure Yuri somehow.

"You will be alright, Yuri." She promised.

**

* * *

**Shoka was waiting right beside the entrance of the village, she had wanted to go with Seishuku but was told that she could not as the cart would not fit everyone. So she had spent the interval making herself as beautiful as she could possibly be, although it was a needless action as her fiancé loved her so much.11 

She knew that Ju-An loved her, but what angered her the most is his unwillingness to marry her right now. Why should they wait when they loved each other and knew that they would love each other?

The warriors of Suzaku were given a second chance, but the irony was that many were repeating what they had done in their past life.

Shoka sighed again as she turned to look at the village leader's house, where Yuri was along with many women in the village. She couldn't help but to breathe out a sigh of envy as she would love to be in Yuri's role: to be married to the man you love and about to give birth to their children.

She liked Yuri, Seishuku's wife. Unlike Ryoen, she truly believed that it was a very romantic act of true love. Since the village was small there weren't many other girls of their age, so she naturally became very good friends with Yuri along with her sister, although Seika was so much shyer.

Yuri was friends with Ju-An, this naturally bond them even more. But she couldn't help but to be jealous of Yuri, as Seishuku was not afraid to marry her immediately as soon as he found her.

"Ju-An!" she cried out loudly as soon as the saw the sight of the village cart, this would not be the first time she did this. What she truly wanted was to be on that cart with him!

"Shoka!" she could hear his voice even before the cart stop, and within a few seconds he had jumped down to run to her and embrace her tightly. It was a rather uncharacteristic thing to do but it had been eight months or so since they last met.

"Ryoen, it is good to see you again after a whole year. We all missed you very much." Shoka said when Ju-An finally let her go.

"Shoka, about Yuri…" Seishuku asked urgently, as she had expected him to. She had talked with Yuri and she was instructed to make sure that Seishuku was not going to panic.

"Yuri is perfectly fine." She said, and this was not untrue. Even though the other woman was a bit pale, the wife had told the worried friend that it was nothing unusual.

"My children has not arrived, have they?" the soon to be father asked nervously, afraid of missing the opportunity to be with his wife and children as soon as he could.

Once again Shoka shook her head. "Oh but I am being very rude! I have not introduced myself at all!" she suddenly called out, as she turned to face the visitors.

Miaka has not seen Shoka before, but she was simply glad that Ju-An was happy, as she recollect the sadness in Mitsukake's face whenever he thought and talked about Shoka, his lover that died from a diseases that he could have cured had he been there.12

"I am Shoka. Ju-An's fiancée." She said to these strangers, she couldn't help but to sigh slightly, she wished that she could say that she was his wife, as Yuri could. But she could at least take some comfort in her title, unlike her sister.

"I am Miaka, I am Yuri's sister!" Miaka declared out.

"Yuri's little sister?" Shoka frowned slightly. "But you don't seem to…" her words trailed off as Miaka misjudged the distant between them and ended up tripping onto the ground, instead of shaking her hand.

"They are half-sisters." Ju-An whispered. "They are not very…" at this he paused, wondering why he was suddenly going to tell his girlfriend that the two siblings were not close when they must be. He himself could remember the numerous times that Miaka had come to find Yuri.

"I will take you back to our house then." Seishuku interrupted, despite his eagerness to get back he caught his friend's slip of tongue. Was that a sign that Ju-An was going to remember his life as Mitsukake?

**

* * *

**

Pale but happy, Yuri held her two children in her arms. After all this struggle, her children finally arrived in this world in perfect safety.

"A boy and a girl! Didn't I promise that there will be at least one son?" the midwife smiled at the new mother as she began the tidying up.

"A future leader of this village." Yuri's mother in law said merrily, even though such thing did not matter that much in their village anymore, it was still good for tradition to remain unbroken by the birth of a boy.

The two women helped Yuri to sit up straighter, and then began to brush her hair, which had tangled slightly due to the labour. Even though her husband was not going to notice any of this, they both knew the importance of this to a woman.

Yuri herself was in great shock, she wasn't even sure whether this was true at all right now. She could feel the two children's weight on her arms but somehow she just couldn't quite realize the impact of all that has happened.

"My children." She repeated, hoping to reassure herself of the reality of all this. She was the mother to these two beautiful children, children that she dreamt of having for such a long time, not because they were necessary as heir or prove that she was not barren, but because she simply wanted to have children with the man that she loved.

"I just don't believe this." She repeated once more. "It is like a dream."

These two beautiful babies…did they really come out from her body? Bending down she could see that her stomach was now flattened, but somehow…

Before she even had time to react, she felt her husband's arms around her…he had suddenly appeared and was sitting beside her. Strangely enough he seemed to be crying, as her cheeks seemed quite wet.

"We are parents." She whispered to him, as he held the two new babies in his hand, his whole body seemed to be shaking.

Chocking, Seishuku nodded. He couldn't even speak for his throat seemed to be blocked with tears, and even if they weren't, he truly didn't know what to say at all.

Yuri was safe, and she was holding their children…such beautiful children too, just like their mother. This seemed like a dream, because it just didn't seem possible that anyone could be as happy as he was at that moment.

I have my heir now, he thought when he first heard the cry of his son, before he realized with great relief that he was no longer the emperor of Konan.

"Seishuku," his mother whispered to him as she elbowed him gently from her position behind him. "Their names."

"Whose names?" he asked dumb fondly, so great was his shook that he out of all people forgot about the practices of their village: children were to have their name announced as soon as their father held them.

"Your children's names." His mother said again, almost laughing. It just seemed ironic that her son, who loved these old tales and ritual so much, would be forgetting about them completely. She was relieved too, as there was a time when she was afraid that he would be more interested in what were stories, instead of what was real13

"My children's name…my children's name!" he repeated when he suddenly remembered both the tradition, as well as the names he and Yuri had come up with.

"Our son will be called Boushin, while our daughter will be called Seihana."14

**

* * *

**To Miaka, her niece and nephew were absolutely adorable, although their uncle could not be as certain as she was. But then, Ryoen was only a teenager boy. 

"They…" Ryoen didn't know how he could say the two babies were like his brother or his sister in law, when they seemed to be nothing alike.

Behind him, both Taka and Genro were thinking the same thing, the formal not knowing that within a few years he would be doing what Seishuku was doing. Taka could understand how happy Seishuku must have felt, as he secretly begun to imagine he and Miaka being in a family as well, but he couldn't comprehend why the man he regard as rather narcissist, was seeing these two babies as the most beautiful things in the world.

It was not as if they were ugly at all, but they were what most babies looked like!

"Yuri-neesan, you must be so happy!" Miaka said to her half sister, who could only smile happily as an answer. Right now, Yuri was so full of goodwill that she truly couldn't be sad or angry in anyway.

"I am glad to see you." she said softly, her strength used up for the birthing. "Is everything alright? Keisuke…"

"Everything is fine!" Miaka dismissed any possibilities with a wave of hand. "But are you alright, neesan? You don't write to me that often."

Yuri evaded the question by smiling, as she didn't want to explain to the other right now about how she really felt in regard to the altering of their lives.

"Miaka, I am so happy in my life." She said truthfully. "Married to the man I love, and now the mother of children that I longed for. It will not be hard for you to understand."

Meanwhile, Seishuku could finally greet his best friend properly, as well as those who were his comrades in his past life, he could not say that they were his friends, as his title and status had made them drew an invisible line between them, yet he had longed to receive friendship from them: the other six who should be his equal.15

"How long do you plan to stay in our village?" he asked Taka, who would probably speak for his cousin as well. Cousins…he dimly recollected how these two were always fighting. It seemed rather fitting.

"Perhaps a month or so." Taka replied.

"Good, you and Miaka will be able to attend the whole-month festival."

"What is that?" Dokun asked. "I think I have read about this somewhere."

"It is a old tradition that is probably not practiced much in the city now." Seishuku explained. "We will hold a celebration when the new born children turned a month old."16

The festival had always been something that everyone looked forward to due to its very nature of being a celebration, as well as symbolising the full recovering of the mother.

Ironically, the real sorrow chooses to arrive on the day of the festival.

* * *

1 I actually made a mistake in my last story, well I wrote something that was completely unreasonable. I wrote that the village of Konan is about two days of train ride away from Tokyo, since Tokyo is in the middle of Japan this seems a bit too impossible no matter how slow the train get, and the village is not in the very bottom either. So, to make it more practical it will only be half a day. Please ignore the inconsistency. 

2 Since they are reborn as normal people I decided to make them be called by their real name. (apart from Tamahome, as his real name is not Taka but something else, but since he's called Taka in the original story…)

Hotohori Seishuku (I'm still not that sure about this but well, according to some sources it is his real name, although it just seems an alternative pronunciation of his name as the kanji are the same)

Nuriko Ryoen

Chichiri Hojun

Taisuki Shunu (also known as Genro)

Mitsukake Ju-An

Chiriko Dokun

There is another inconsistency in my story again, do forgive me. In hidden secrets Ryoen actually calls Seishuku 'Onichan', which is an affectionate enough term for your older brother, but I decided to change it to Aniki, because that is what the real Nuriko calls his brother. I don't know whether this meaning is more formal or not but I don't think it is like super formal or anything.

3 According to my friend chichi means daddy, while haha means mummy. She tells me it's very affectionate, so hopefully it is right. The real Hotohori does call his parents with that. Do correct me if it is wrong.

4 In my fan fiction Yuri and Mitsukake/Ju-An have always been quite close. She and Mitsukake had both understand and experienced the whole concept of sacrifice for lover and be bind by that, and then she was Ju-An's neighbor, so they are rather good friends.

5 I am presuming that by being rather rural the village follows the tradition approach toward birthing, that is all men are excluded and the women would have a heavy use of herbs.

6 Due to Suzaku's alteration of their life Yuri got into a car accident on her eighteenth birthday, instead of arriving in the universe of the four gods. As a result she was unconscious for three years until Seishuku came, in which he woke her up.

7 I think Yuri's mother would be like that, very open and expressive in her feelings for her daughter. From what Yuri recollected in Hidden Secrets, I think her mother never found the one man she truly loved, but I think she would love Miaka's father the best out of all her boy friends, although that would only be because he allowed Yuri to be born.

8 I don't know what this is called in English, but it's basically the idea of parents coming to see their children in school, not really an open day. But just for parents to see their children.

9 Randomly I also decided to let this be Yuri's mother's name, Chiai, (千愛) which means a thousand love. Chi(千) ai (愛). I guess this can have a lot of interpretations but no matter what, it is just really ironic considering the nature or her love life.

10 This is something I thought of very early when Yuri's character first got created, but somehow that didn't make it to Hidden Secrets.

11 Shoka is reincarnated as I actually find the thing with her and Mitsukake really sad so that is why, and likewise Chichiri's fiancée, I also find that really sad too. But Kourin is not coming out, it's not because I am cold-blooded to Nuriko on purpose but I simply have no idea how I will fit that into my story. Sorry!"

12 This bit is changed from the original manga. In hidden secrets Yuri found Mitsukake and he told her about what happened to Shoka, which changed. Mitsukake could only cure a person affected with the fever only before a certain amount of time passed. In Shoka's case it was too late as she had been sick for too long, but even though she was sick, she still made him leave her in order to save more people. When she died he couldn't take it, so that's why he stopped healing people. Then he met Yuri, who caught the fever and he was really touched when she told him to go to find the miko for Hotohori's sake, instead of asking him to save her.

13 This was what happened to Hotohori, he was so obsessed by the story of the suzaku priestess, what was only a legend, that he took no interest in the women around him at all, who were real.

14 Seihana literally mean star flower, flower of the star.

15 For me, one of the saddest thing about Hotohori is that everyone treat him as the emperor, whenever they call him Hotohori-sama or Koutei heika it is just so sad, because I think that is the sign of them not regarding him as the same. Because of his title he always seemed to be like the outsider. Especially when people like Taisuki and Nuriko might call Tamahome Taka, but Hotohori was still called Hotohori-sama apart from Miaka, who just call him by his name.

16 This is probably not a western custom, although I'm not sure if they still practiced this in eastern words, I think they will. It is a tradition for a mother to rest for about a month and then there will be a celebration.

* * *

_Author's Note: Wow…this ended up longer then I thought. Initially Seiryuu was going to come out but since the chapter got so long somehow (I actually don't know how this happened) I will have to save that for the next chapter. But as always I hope someone enjoyed it and if you did enjoy it then please please please review. That will make me really happy. Although to be honest, this is not the most interesting chapter, as nothing really happened. Can I just use the excuse of showing Yuri's character a bit more?_

_But next chapter definitely: Yuri talks to Seiryuu once more, and was told to go back to the universe of the four gods._

_I forgot to mention that in my fan fiction Urumiya is going to be an OC. So basically she is just an OC, forget about the person who really is Urumiya, the Urumiya in my story is a woman by the way. It is really funny, as I discovered the other day that in Genbu Kaiden…SPOILER- Urumiya is that assassin_


	4. Chapter Three

_Author's Note:_ _my exams are over so I am on holiday now, so hopefully I should be able to update this quite quick and finish the story. Well…as promised, Seiryuu is coming out in this chapter and telling Yuri what she must do. And once again, I hope that someone will like it enough to leave a review._

_When I watched the first and the second fushigi yugi ova I thought that it's really sad as Koji and the twins (the celestial warriors of Seiryuu) all died, and I never thought I'd say this but I actually like Nakago a bit better due to what he did in the OVA. And after seeing the second OVA I seemed to reconsider the relationship of Houki and Hotohori- his feelings for her. I think he did give up on Miaka and ended up loving her. But I think that is what is so tragic about Hotohori, even he loved Houki they still only were married for one month and he still got reincarnated.

* * *

_

Lovingly, her husband sat down beside her and began to braid her long hair for her. Usually he liked to unbind them and see her lovely hair loose, it was probably because a grown woman would only let the one closest to her to perform this very intimate action.

"They told me that you must rest tonight." Seishuku informed her gently, securing the end with a white ribbon.

She would get tired so easily, but the doctor had assured the very worried husband that this was not a dangerous sign, and that his beloved wife would defiantly recover as long as she obeys the tradition of resting for the majority of the month.

It seemed that she was recovering, although she was still not strong yet to stay through the festival herself. She had been down briefly to greet the guest, which was whole village along with the additional guests. As soon as she did this, she was allowed to go back and rest.

Her husband would have carried her back although it was not necessary had she not been holding their two children, as a result he gently guided her back.

"Boushin and Seihana are the most beautiful children I have ever seen," Seishuku said happily, not for the first time. "I know that Seihana will definitely be as beautiful as her mother, which means that we will have quite some problems when she grows up. We'll probably have to deal with young men asking for her hand every single day. The same goes for Boushin as well, he will end up just like his father, he'll probably end up breaking every young girl's heart in the village. Not that I was interested in any girl apart from you. I had been waiting for you ever since I was reborn into your world." Seishuku hastily added.1

Closing her eyes Yuri was content to just hold her husband's hand and listen to him talk like a normal man with the birth of his children. She was glad that he was only Seishuku, the son of a village leader, instead of Hotohori, an emperor. If he was Hotohori then by now he would probably have to arrange some sort of ceremony required due to the presence of an heir, if not already playing his part in it.

She would be left in her chambers again, if she was lucky then she might be able to watch her children, but likely they would be taken away for the necessary rituals. Or she might be dragged up to stand beside the emperor.

Many coveted the life of royalty, and like many little girls she had once dreamt of being a princess after having met prince charming, who would save her from everything and take her to his palace. After being an empress for two years she realized how ridiculous that dream was.

It was an impossible thing to be with one's husband for the whole day, even now she was often apart from Seishuku as he worked on the fields during many of the morning and afternoon, and most people in society would be working. Although a farmer's life resembled an emperor's life in the fact that neither had weekends, that was probably the only similarity.

The main difference was that she knew when Seishuku would be back, unlike Hotohori-who might be away even at the evenings due to some urgent matter of the state. And if when she was very ill, Hotohori still had to look after his state first instead of spending his whole day beside her, like now.

Her two children seemed to be sound asleep, Yuri wander what life would have been like for them if she was still the empress of Konan. There would be grand celebrations when all she wanted was to hold her two children and be held by the man she loves.

"Chichi and haha are absolutely delighted with their grandchildren." Seishuku was saying. "According to haha they look exactly like me when I was only an infant."

"You must have been a beautiful child."

"Yuri, I was naturally a child endowed with great wisdom, grace and wit in both lives." He said this with a perfectly straight face and maybe he really did believe it, but it was clear that he regard his wife the most beautiful woman, while his children were the most adorable children ever seen, even more good-looking then him.

Seishuku continued talking very light heartedly until Yuri finally managed to sleep, he could tell as her breath became more even and the weight of her hand became much lighter. He bent down and kissed her forehead before he took his two children into his arms and gently shut the door with his elbow.

The villagers were all at the house of the parents, ready to take part of this traditional celebration. Seishuku had insisted on making sure that Yuri was resting and refused to leave her side until he was satisfied that she was asleep. As Seishuku he could naturally do this and even be praised for being such a loving husband, but if he was still Hotohori then he would probably have to make Yuri stand beside him as they paraded around with their children.

Sometimes Seishuku was glad of having the memories of his past life not just because Yuri was there, but because they made him appreciate his new life even more.2

But yet he still couldn't resist whispering the following to his children: "Boushin, you almost could have become the emperor of a great kingdom, and you Seihana, would probably have ended up as an empress. You two may not believe this but your chichi was once the emperor of a grand nation, and your haha was his empress."3

* * *

She was sitting beside the window as she often would when she was awake, but the strange thing was that the surface of the window became glass like instead of being thick paper.4

She could see her own reflection in the mirror, but instead of having her hair in the braid plait by Seishuku, her hair was loose and decorated with a headdress made from jade, not surprisingly it was carved into the shape of a dragon.

The loose night gown she wore was gone as well, replaced by the ceremonial robe of the priestess of Seiryuu. As to be expected, her forehead was marked by that symbol of a dragon.

"Why this…" she cursed angrily.

Raising her hand she planned to either strike the glass or tore the headdresses off. But her hand was grabbed by a strong grip, from the window's reflection she saw that the hand was covered by blue scales.

"Do you so hate me, Seiryuu?" she hissed as she snatched her hand back, refusing to turn to face the god whose priestess she became. She knew that this dream was just like the first dream she had of Seiryuu, it was real. "You had what you wanted, your kingdom is saved and you will not be forgotten, and you even had me as your sacrifice, so why do you come before me again?"

"It seems that I should be the one to ask that, do you so hate me for what I had to do?" Seiryuu said, and his voice was rather quiet.

Yuri leant back and closed her eyes, her hand resting on her abdomen, remembering how he had clawed his way out of her body from there. That was also a few seconds before he finally ended her pain through death.

"I used my celestial warriors just as they used me, in the same way you used me just as I used you to get what I want. How can there be hatred?" she said softly.

"You are not like the priestess of Suzaku." Seiryuu remarked out. "Suzaku will soon be talking to her, and I believe that her attitude will be very different from yours."

"Suzaku granted Miaka her most desired wish, and let her live with the one that she love the best." Yuri found that she was unable to keep the rather bitter tone out of her voice as she explained. "You could not grant me what I really wanted, and you also ate me, therefore taking me away from the man that I love."5

"Do you hate me for that then?"

She shook her head and finally turned to face him. "I do not blame you for doing what you had to do. I do not hate you, but I cannot love you either. How can I love you when you killed me and ate my corpse? But at the same time I do not hate you either, because I know that it is not your fault.

"So what do you want, Seiryuu? I will listen to you."

"I need your help, just as Suzaku need his priestess' help. Listen carefully, as I do not think I can come to you again." He began to explain to her about how the four gods had once sealed a being called Tenkou, who was a threat to the universe of the four gods, as well as this world. "But he is now breaking free of his seal, and in order to chain him up the four gods must all be summoned out."

"I do not want to die, Seiryuu." She whispered this out, almost pleading. "Especially not when I just had the children I always longed for."

"You will not die this time," he promised. "You must return to the universe of the four gods with the Suzaku priestess and obtain the two shinzaho of the other two gods, and then you must summon me."

"How do I do that?"

"The scroll of Seiryuu will take you to Kutou and…"

Yuri was sure that Seiryuu was just going to explain to her when they were suddenly interrupted by a loud bang, and soon she felt the window behind her shattering, the glasses piercing into her back. Much to her surprise Seiryuu actually picked her up and held her next to him, preventing from her being seriously wounded.6

"You need to stay alive in order to summon me." he explained simply. Turning he released a jet of blue light, making the presence in front of them visible.

The figure snickered as Yuri fixed her gaze on him, it was the silhouette of a man who appeared very slender and tall, clad in full black with long white hair hanging at his side, the colour highlighted even more due to the contrasting colour of his robes.

"Tenkou." Seiryuu said angrily.

Neither the name, nor the appearance of the man, seemed unfamiliar.

"Your chain is breaking every single moment." The one called Tenkou chuckled out. "I can now follow you as you enter the dream of this woman. You better leave her, Seiryuu," he continued on with his mocking. "Otherwise your will soon find your precious priestess gone for the second time."

With the ending of his sentence thick vines crawled around Yuri, chocking her. Beside her, Seiryuu snapped his fingers, the vines immediately disappeared, but her body was still bruised, proving that what happened was no illusion.

Tenkou chuckled again and waved his hand, ropes shot out this time, they were much thicker then the vines and instead of fixing them self around her lower body, they climbed up to curve around her neck.

This time Seiryuu had to close his hand over the rope and tear it to get rid of it.

"What will you do next time, Seiryuu? It will not be hard to kill her now as long as you stay with her."

"You will know when you can summon me." Seiryuu whispered to Yuri before he picked her up and threw her away from him. "Remembering all that happened last time!"7

* * *

As with any society, the gathering of the whole village ended up with a dance, providing an opportunity for both courting and the chance of lovers being together.

The father of the new born children spend most of the time showing his children off to the rest of the village, as one expected of him. It was clear that he was very proud of being the father to these twins, although most people realize that he really just wanted to be by the side of his wife, who was resting due to the birth.

"Seishuku, don't you want to dance as well?" Miaka asked when she finally was able to take a break from dancing with Ryoen and the rest of the visitors to the village.

"Do you wish to dance with me, Miaka?" he asked well naturedly. "I certainly will not mind dancing with my sister in law!"

"Can I claim that honour instead, Seishuku?"

The speaker was a young woman who seemed to be around Seishuku's age. She was dressed in the traditional dress of Konan with her hair gathered up on either side of her head. Miaka immediately felt that this woman seemed one of those typical ideal female in ancient Chinese and Japanese history, the ultimate symbol of pure and extreme femininity: quiet and gentle.8

She also seemed so sad, there was a smile on her face but it did not reach her eyes, therefore it could be not be labelled as a true smile.

"Seika…" Seishuku acknowledged quickly. "Let me just do an introduction first, this is Miaka, my sister in law as she is Yuri's sister. Miaka, this is Seika, Shoka's younger sister by one year. You have already met Shoka, she is Ju-An's fiancée."

"Will you dance with me, Seishuku? I would like to dance but I don't want to dance with anyone else other then you or Ju-An, and he is dancing with my sister right now."

"Seika…" Seishuku sighed slightly as he handed his twin children to Miaka. "You don't have to be like that, you know. It's not as if you are engaged to Hojun and even if you are…"

The rest of his words were lost to Miaka as Seika took his hand and led him away. But what she heard was enough to make her become rather excited.

"RYOEN!!!" she yelled the moment he made his way beside her with Taka, both juggling the plate of foods she had declared to want to eat. "Who is Seika?"

"Seika? You mean Shoka's sister?" following the direction that Miaka pointed to, Ryoen nodded. "Seika also is…was Hojun's girlfriend."

"Was?"

"Well…Seika had been Hojun's girlfriend since they were little, just as Shoka had been Ju-An's girlfriend. Ju-An and Shoka got engaged and everyone thought that Seika and Hojun would be doing so too. Then on Hojun's eighteenth birthday he said that he would be making an announcement that day…"

That event completely broke Seika's heart because Hojun never once told her that he would leave her in such a fashion, and after he said that he was leaving he actually told her that he would not blame her if she wanted to be with someone else in the full view of the whole village.

Despite Seika's declaration that she would not never be anyone else's girlfriend there was still a large group of hopefuls who attempted to court her, but the only other man she would talk to beside her immediate family would be Seishuku, who was the one of the best friend of the man that she love.

Seishuku tried to comfort her as much as he could, but he could not lie to her by assuring her that Hojun would soon come back, because he himself was both unsure and surprised that Hojun would really leave the village. He had heard of his friend expressing a wish of exploring the world, but he never once thought that it would be like that.

"Since they were little the two sisters would often play with my brother and his two best friends, and as they grew older my brother would often purposely leave the two couples. He didn't mind that much as he always told me they were opportunities for him to spend time with me." Ryoen concluded with a rather wistful sigh.

Upon hearing this story Miaka shook her head hard, very angry. She remembered what Chichiri had told her and she had always hoped that Hojun would be able to find the happiness that he had lost when he was Chichiri, just like Mitsukake. But it seemed that once more he let the one he loved slip away from him…

* * *

Seika had always been unusually quiet, unlike her elder sister. Seishuku did not harboured any romantic feelings for her or any of the other girls in the village, as he realized he was waiting for Yuri even before he remembered his life as Hotohori, but sometimes Seika would join him in a companionable silence as he gazed at the view of Konan from some vintage spot. She was only one year younger then him but he regarded her as a little sister like girl, perhaps in the similar fashion he had regarded his priestess as.

"Seishuku, have you heard from Hojun? Is he well?" Seika whispered out in that quiet voice which Hojun so adored. "He does not write to me because he…"

Her companion only nodded as he was doing a mental calculation at the same time. The last time the two met would have been about eight months ago, at his wedding to Yuri.

"Tell him that I don't want anyone else, and I will wait for him forever!" she declared passionately.

"Seika…" he was rather unsure of how to respond, at one hand he believed that a person should wait for the person they love forever, just as he had waited for Yuri, but yet at the same time he felt that this advice sounded quite heartless.

"Hojun does love you," he finally decided, "In his last letter to me he wrote that…"

What he wanted to say next was interrupted by a sharp scream, to his horror he recognized the source as from upstairs. And right now there was only one person upstairs.

"Yuri…" he whispered.

* * *

Yuri was sitting upright on the bed, the sheets crinkled due to her hands clenching at it tightly. The long strands of her hair had escaped from their plait as the white ribbon was broken, and her hair was plastered onto her face and back due to sweat.

Upon hearing footsteps she quickly grabbed the discarded blanket and pulled it over her, concealing her body which she was sure was bruised, even though she had not examined it yet.

"Yuri, what is wrong?" naturally, Seishuku was the first man to enter, followed closely by his parents.

Standing a bit further in the corridor were Miaka and most of the celestial warriors, with the exception of Genro, who was too occupied, and Ryoen, who probably only thought that his sister in law was being a bit hysterical due to some nightmare. Like it or not, that would have to be her excuse to the rest of the world.

"I am fine!" she laughed rather shrilly, pulling the blanket up even more.

Strangely, for no reasons at all she suddenly remembered the many times her mother had mumbled something in her dream, only to have forgotten all about it the very next day.

"I had such a nice dream last night, Yuri." Her mother once told her as she began to brush Yuri's long hair, she would lean against her mother- taking her presence there for granted.

"But what did you dream of, Haha?" the young Yuri would always ask, even though she might be absorbed in her new toy or the breakfast her mother would always lovingly prepare for her. Her mother always made sure that she had something she liked for breakfast, and insisted on brushing her hair everyday, even though she was a busy woman who ended up having to rush to work due to her little child's tendency of staying in her bed until she had to get up.

Strangely, Yuri began to wake up very early with the death of her mother, and she would always regret the time lost to her because of her previous inability of waking up on time.

"I don't remember, darling." Her mother always laughed at this, "But I just knew that it was a very lovely dream."

"Was it about otousan?" she once asked childishly, that had been when she first realized that it was not normal to not have a father. Every other girl often spoke of their father, or at the very least referred to him. But she, she had no father, as long as she could remember her home only consisted of her mother and her.

"Your father? No, of course not! What do I need him for!" her mother had declared passionately, "All I need to be happy is to have you beside me. You are my most precious treasure! Yes, I must have been dreaming about you since it was such a nice dream!"

Maybe she was thinking about her mother as she had become a mother herself.

"I had a bad dream, that was it." Yuri told everyone easily. "I am so sorry to have caused you all so much trouble but it was just a dream."

"What did you dream about?" Seishuku began worriedly, especially since she appeared rather dazed for a long time.

"I do not remember what it was." Yuri lied for the sake of everyone else.

"Well, these things are not uncommon to a new mother." Her mother in law quickly came to her rescue, even though she was completely unaware of how much Yuri wanted everyone to leave her chamber. "I used to have some sort of nightmares about Seishuku being hurt during the first year of his birth. To be honest I still worry about him even though he is a parent himself now!" this last sentence immediately lightened the tension in the room. Smiling, she told Yuri: "We'll just leave you to rest then."

"I will stay with you…" Seishuku began but he suddenly paused.

He quickly covered his halt by leaning forward to plant a kiss on Yuri's forehead, but the object of his love saw that he had another motive, he 'accidentally' pulled her hair forward in order to cover the slight swell on her neck, and his hands were actually shaking slightly.

"You must be quite cold." He said as he took another blanket and spread it over her, concealing the slightly visible bruise on her leg due to the small new tear in her nightgown.

Had he not been so shocked then he might have noticed the blue scroll that was placed on the floor, then he would not have reached his conclusion.

Seishuku was forcing himself to remain calm even though he was beginning to panic, but after all, he did have six years of training from being an emperor.

As soon as he ushered everyone out he slammed the door shut and locked it, but instead of rushing to Yuri's side as he thought he would, he actually felt himself sinking to the ground, his hands barely managed to clench into fists.

"Seishuku?" Yuri whispered softly, she too expected that he would come and sit by her side and ask her what happened.

She wanted to stand up but found that she was still shaking a bit due to what happened in her dream, what Tenkou did to her. Instead of standing up properly she actually staggered down, the hem of her skirt happened to cover the whole of the scroll, which Seishuku might have otherwise seen.

Upon hearing the loud thud he immediately controlled himself enough to walk to her and took her into his arms. Holding her against him tightly he buried his face amidst her loose hair.

"I never ever thought that such thing would happen in this place," he whispered, "But I still love you Yuri, no matter what. Tell me who did it and I will kill him."

"Seishuku?" Yuri whispered, very puzzled. Initially she thought that he understood that she had saw Seiryuu in her dreams but his reaction seemed a bit too passionate. She could understand why he might be a little upset as what happened indicated that there would soon be trouble, but his actions still seemed rather extreme.

"I wish we can kill him that easily…" she whispered rather wistfully, feeling sad at the thought of having to part with Seishuku in order to go to Kutou, while he goes with Miaka to Konan. How would she tell him this in the first place? Knowing him…

"I will kill him!" Seishuku declared fervently, as he drew back to look at Yuri on eyelevel. "I will kill him for daring to do this to you. I don't care who he is or what will happen, I will kill him. And I promise, I will still love you. No matter what happens, you will never be tainted."

Yuri finally frowned openly and asked: "Seishuku, why would I regard myself as being tainted from talking to Seiryuu and then being attacked by some sort of demon?"

At this Seishuku literally chocked.

"That…that was what happened? Your wounds came because…"

Yuri managed to summarized what happened in her dream as brief as she could, as it was clear that her husband was highly agitated. As she finished Seishuku embraced her fiercely once again, only that he was laughing in relief this time.

"What did you think happened?" she asked.

"I…I thought you were raped. I couldn't believe that any man in this village could actually commit such a crime but I didn't know what else to think when I saw you lying on the bed with part of your bodies bruised." He muttered out. "I'm so happy that nothing of that sort happened, but I want you to know that I would not stop loving you even if that happened. You will always be the most beautiful woman in my eyes, Yuri, and nothing that anyone do can ever destroy that beauty, not even old age." 9

Yuri managed to laugh too, she cupped his face between her hands and told him simply: "I can protect myself, Seishuku, you made sure of that by teaching me how to wield a sword, so you do not have to worry about that happening."

He nodded, "But I still want to protect you, Yuri, even though I know that you can protect yourself rather well."10

* * *

As they expected, Miaka was visited by Suzaku that night, unlike Yuri though, she has not met Tenkou due to what happened in Yuri's dream. Suzaku had told Miaka what she must do as well as elaborating on the details.

They were to go to the universe of the four gods through the scrolls, the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku was to accompany their priestess to Konan, where they must find seven stones that contains their memories. In the case of Taka and Seishuku, who already gained back their memory, they would still find a stone only that it would be a bit different then everyone else. The only clue Miaka knew was that these seven stones represent the seven celestial warrior's past.

The four of them pondered on what they should do for a long time, as it was impossible to disappear in this village without being discovered, but if they leave their village Seishuku and Yuri must take their children with them and the children would have be looked after.

In the end they decided to stay at Yui's house, as she already knew about the universe of the four gods, and she was alone in her rather large house, as her parents were away due to an emergency business trip.

That was why two days after the celebration, Seishuku found himself on this train toward Tokyo with his wife and his children, as well as the six other who had been celestial warriors.

Using their excuse of visiting the grave of Yuri's mother, everyone had nodded in understanding as they heard of their plan of going to Tokyo on such a short notice. The only one who expressed some hesitation toward their plan was his parents, who worried that their daughter-in-law was not completely recovered yet.

"But Otousan, Kaasan, I want to take them to see my haha now." Yuri had reasoned.

Yuri was sleeping, leaning against him with a tattered blanket covering her, they were both dressed in the native costume of Konan as they had decided that such cloths would help them when they return to the universe of the four gods.

Looking at her he couldn't but help to recollect everything once again, how it was like a sign of fate. Just before they were about to leave he had receive a phone call from Hojun, who was suddenly in Japan and planned to return to the village, after he offered many congratulations.

"Stay…stay in Tokyo and meet us there." Seishuku had finally said after a long pause. It was just like the day when Yuri finally woke up from her coma. Everyone had been gathered together once again.

He bent down to put the blanket in place once again. As he did so he heard her whisper something softly, bending over he heard the word 'Hotohori', what his name had been.

"Hotohori? Why does she call you that, aniki?" Ryoen asked when he took the seat next to his brother, remembering what the strange name his sister-in-law often call his brother during the days before their marriage.

"Ryoen, do you know about the twenty eight constellations?" Seishuku began. "In the twenty eight constellations one of the constellations is Hotohori, and the kanji for Hotohori is exactly the same as the kanji in my name Seishuku."

"She always does seem to be interested in stars." Ryoen agreed, remembering the time he had found his brother and her outside at nighttimes, looking at the stars. "But aniki, why are you and Yuri not staying with Ju-An or I, but with Yui?"

"We have a reason…" Seishuku said softly. "You will find out soon, Ryoen." This referring to how everyone was going straight to Yui's house first as Miaka and Taka had something to announce.

"Are you two planning to get married?" Genro had immediately yelled out in the middle of the whole village. As to be expected, Ju-An had to spend the next few minutes to make sure that he was not too severely injured.

"So we will return there." Seishuku whispered softly.

He wonders whether the people in that world would still remember him at all after all these times, as it might be longer in that world. He couldn't help but to think of those who had been his family in that world. His family was not even a family, but yet he couldn't help but to think about them.

Did he want to return to that world at all? He had been very happy in that world as that was where he first met Yuri and married her, and for two years they had been very happy. But the universe of the four gods had been a place where he had been tormented with guilt due to the great responsibility that he had, not only as a celestial warrior of Suzaku, but also as the emperor of Konan.

In the same way he knew that Yuri had been happy in Konan as well, because that was where the first met him, the first person to love her as well as receiving her love since her mother died. But at the same time he did not always made her happy.

One memory particularly haunted him, it was his last memory of her before she was killed. Could he face these buried memories? Memories that they hide amongst all their other memories because living it had been to painful.11

* * *

1 This bit is referring to when Hotohori first saw Boushin, his reaction to his son. As I recall he said something like "He look just like me when I was little, such grace, wit etc." I quite like that bit as I thought it was quite cute, as for Hotohori, saying anyone looks just like him is his greatest way of complimenting on their appearance.

2 I seriously had no idea that the two of them would end up thinking and comparing about their lives in the village of Konan, and the kingdom of Konan that much!!!

3 I don't fully know why I had this bit, maybe as a reminder that the past is always there, what happened in there was true so that it should not be forgotten. Once more, this refer to what Yuri feel in regard to what Miaka did.

In one version I actually considered letting Yuri and Hotohori remain in Konan as the emperor and empress, had that happen their daughter would eventually have married the son of the emperor of Kutou, and she would actually have ended up as the empress of Kutou, with her brother as the emperor of Konan (and he might have married the daughter of the emperor of Kutou.) But it would have been a marriage of love, they would have been friends with their future suppose since they were little.

4 An interesting thing, he and his…I guess family is quite affectionate and not that formal as you would except from royalty. He actually uses chichi and haha when he was talking to his son, instead of the more formal term, and Boushin called him chichi when he first spoke. (sob, I started crying as I was just so touched…)

In regard to the window I did say that the village 'Konan' is rather rural so the windows are not made from glass. Since Yuri lives in the house of the village leader, the window is a bit better then the rest of the village by not only being a hole, it actually have a shuttle covered by paper (a bit like the window in Hotohori's room that he chopped up)

5 This is kind of one of the early hints that Yuri had not fully accepted Miaka.

6 Nothing romantic here, he really is just doing this to make sure she wouldn't get killed.

7 Miaka would be able to have a longer talk with Suzaku as the attack on Yuri and Seiryuu made Tenkou much weaker.

8 That is what I felt in regard to Chichiri's fiancée, she just seemed like that, your very traditional Chinese woman, although I feel she is way too extreme, to feel that she could not be with the man she love just because another man kissed her by force.

She will be called Seika 聖華, and will actually be Shoka's sister. Kind of why not.

9 Somehow that just came, I actually quite like what Tamahome told Miaka after the whole Nakago incident, that nothing can defy and taint her, so that was why I wanted to use this concept in regard to Hotohori and Yuri, and I kind of stole part of Tamahome's speech.

10 I just had to add this last bit in because that is something I quite like about Yuri. She can actually protect herself tolerable well, but she does not become too reliant on herself, she will willingly accept other's people wish of protecting her.

11 The title of the story, I seem to always try and do this in many of my stories- incorporating the title.

* * *

_Author's Note: Chapter three finished! In the next chapter they will be returning to the universe of the four gods. I've been watching more of Fushigi Yugi and I was just seeing the bit when Tatara died and once more I just feel that it is so unfair as it truly seem that Miaka get the best deal in everything compared to the other mikos. Someone asked me why I dislike Miaka so and my reason has been because I feel that she never understand the whole situation, such as the bit when she went into Nakago's tent and start eating. And another reason that I don't like both her and Yui is that they never seem to truly realize what they done, what they caused to both Kutou and Konan as well as many others. And another thing I realize that now, I don't like these type of people who are always good and uses love to convery everyone (abit like the seven seals in X-1000, which I don't really like either) I just feel that there are times when you really have to right despite what happened in the past._

_But anyway…please read this and please please leave a review!_


	5. Chapter Four

_Author's Note: my apologies for taking so long in putting this up even though most of chapter four is written, and I am on holiday. But due to being addicted to the game Baldur's Gate (I really want to finish it) I haven't bee doing much writing. But I plan to change it. As always, please read and review._

_I also finally managed to finish the whole fushigi yugi anime and I still like the manga better, I think t he main thing is that I feel the manga's drawings are so much more beautiful, especially Hotohori. And another thing that I am very upset with is that Nakago just died instead of seeing his mum and Soi (dressed in a dress instead of her armour). I actually didn't like Nakago at all before but still…I feel so angry at the fact that they didn't let him see Soi stretching her hand to him, because that is a sign of him being in peace. Actually I did though that it suck when Nakago came out in the first ova without Soi with him. Although I have to admit, Hotohori's death is done really well (apart from the large picture of Miaka, I am sorry but I really don't like her, and her presence there kind of ruined the whole picture for me. I really like Watase Yuu's drawings but not of Miaka when she has her hair in two buns. I like how Miaka is drawn in most of the latter ovas.) _

_Something else that I don't like, in the story, is the fact that Seiryuu seemed to be potrayed as an evil god, which I feel is unfair because I don't think he is evil. I don't like how Seiryuu got sealed…

* * *

_

After they met Hojun at the train station they all went to Yui's home and everyone was ushered into the living room with the exception of Yuri and Hotohori, whose first priority were making sure that their children was comfortably off. Yui managed to find the discarded cradle her parents had for her in their attic and lend it to the new parents.

Yuri knelt beside the cradle after she placed her two children in, she then began to rock the cradle as well as singing softly to calm them. Occasionally she would bend down to kiss their faces, her eyes glowing with pleasure due to their mere presence.1

Walking past the hidden Miaka, Seishuku knelt beside his wife to slip an arm around her waist, while the other hovered over the cradle to stroke the faces of their new born children.

The two of them seemed so happy that Miaka felt what she had to do was almost like a sin: to interrupt this moment of happiness.

She felt a deep twang of guilt when the knock made their face darkened. Sighing, Seishuku leant down to kiss the twin babies before turning to Yuri and kissed her on the forehead. It seemed that they both already predicted that something was going to be wrong.

"Neesan, Seishuku." Miaka said softly as she too approached the cradle, she couldn't help but to smile at Boushin and Seihana, they were just so adorable. She could almost understand why birthing was a triumph for the parents. "Taka and I decided that it is best to try and explain what we must do first, to convince them to enter the universe of the four gods."

"I understand." Seishuku nodded, he had been waiting for this but strangely there was this unnatural feeling of worry in him. He turned to Yuri and took her hands, almost begging her: "Will you come with me?"

Smiling rather sadly Yuri shook her head. "I do not want to. I am the priestess of Seiryuu, everyone else is a celestial warrior of Suzaku who is to protect the priestess of Suzaku."

"Yuri…"

She smiled brightly as she leant on Seishuku. "I will be jealous when I hear Miaka talking about Suzaku, because I wish that Seiryuu could be as kind as Suzaku is to Miaka…to be able to be loved by my celestial warriors is something I will really like to have. And," she added the last bit even more light heartedly, "I am also jealous because you will have to assure Miaka that you will protect her."

"Silly girl." Seishuku said, rolling his eyes as he kissed her again.

But he still couldn't stop the feeling of dread as he left the room, even though she was smiling merrily as she waved him good bye, and was saying that tidying up their little luggage would occupy her until he came back.

Yuri occupied his mind all through out their 'meeting', it didn't matter that much as he was one of the few who already knew what was going to happen, as he already had his memory.

Suddenly, he recollected the night before Yuri left him when they were in the universe of the four gods, she had behaved so cheerfully after days of sadness.

Ignoring the others' muttering as he stood up abruptly, he exist the room to walk to their room. He hoped he was wrong, because at the very worst Yuri would just laugh at him for being so paranoid, but knowing her, she would also be happy that he was thinking about her so much.

Once again, he prayed that he was wrong.

* * *

As soon as Seishuku and Miaka turned at the end of the hallway, Yuri lost her smile. Closing the door, she quickly locked all two locks, and then pushed the desk in front of the door.

Technically, all her preparation was done, she was dressed in the native custom of the village of Konan, which was very much like what she saw the peasants wore in the universe of the four gods, and this should allow her to blend in with the people without being too conspicuous.

Just to be on the safe side, she also made a very plain cloak.

The truth was that she was not ready to return there yet, because she was afraid. She didn't want to relive these three months when she was by herself, she didn't want to be lonely again.

But she had to do this now, when everyone else was with Miaka. Otherwise she would surely loss her resolve and tell Seishuku about it, and knowing him, he would abandon everyone and go with her.

"You will arrive in Kutou." That had been Sieryuu's words, Seishuku…Hotohori would be needed in Konan with the priestess of Suzaku.

Her children would be well cared for by Yui, Yuri trusted the much grimmer girl immensely. She worked out that the whole thing would only take about a night's time in this world, so she did not need to worry about her children.

"Once again I am worrying about myself." She whispered. "As I told Hotohori, I didn't do what I did for Konan, it was for him, and ultimately for myself."

She bent down at the cradle again, kissing her two children in turn.

"Haha will return soon, be good for Chichi while she is gone." She whispered before putting them both down.

At last her hand closed over the scroll, it seemed such an ugly thing. The deep blue parchment and the darker blue ribbon that tied it together, perhaps it was because this reminded her of the robes she had wore as the priestess of Seiryuu.

She hated these robes, and it was natural, that had been what she wore when she summoned her own death.

"I do not hate you, but I cannot love you either." She had told Seiryuu when he first demanded her service. "How can I love you when you killed me and ate my corpse? But at the same time I do not hate you either, because I know that it is not your fault."

"So once more you call me to your service, and I agreed to it because I want Hotohori…Seishuku to live. That is why I will try and summon you to stop this 'new evil'. This is just like last time, I am not doing my duty out of obligation." Yuri said bitterly as she untied the band of dark blue and threw the scroll out. It fell in front of her with a loud 'clang' rather ungracefully, twisted in an unnatural angle, she almost wander whether it was mocking her.

Kneeling down she placed her hand over the writing and began to chant to Seiryuu.2

"Take me to Kutou." She whispered. "Your kingdom that was also the threat to the kingdom of my husband."

* * *

Seishuku realized that something was wrong when the door refused to open. Desperately, he began to bang on the door even as he rattled the knob once more, hoping that the lock would be broken by some miracle.

"Yuri, don't do anything stupid!" he cried out urgently, "Open the door and let me in."

There was no reply, taking a deep breath he pressed his ears against the door, maybe she was asleep and he really was just worrying a bit too much? It would not be unnatural for her to lock her door when she was in a stranger's house. Yui might be Miaka's best friend but to Yuri she was really just an acquaintance.

To his great horror, he heard her voice whispering something, this meant that she choose to not open the door as there was no way that she could have shut out his loud screams and banging if she was not sleeping.

"Yuri!" he screamed again as he resumed beating on the door. "Yuri, let me in!"

"What is wrong?" Genro asked nervously.

He did not know this man very well, after all he was just his cousin's girl friend's half sister's husband- a distant connection. Miaka did mention something bizarre about how they all had to go inside the book or something, and although he was sure that Miaka meant well, he still asked Taka whether she was feverish of something.

He knew little of Seishuku, even though he had been a guest in the formers village for a month. During this time Seishuku had devote most of the time that was not spent with Yuri and his children to his younger brother and Ju-An.

"She's doing something stupid again, I know it!" Seishuku said angrily. "Yui, I'm sorry but I must break your door!"

"Wait!" Yui quickly grabbed Seishuku's raised hand. "You can't just break the door of my house! What will I say to my parents?"

"I'll pay for the damage." Seishuku replied briskly. Just as he had been in his past life, Seishuku was losing all rationality when Yuri was involved.

Luckily for Yui, the lock was in a rather bad condition in the first place, therefore Seishuku was able to force the door open without completely damaging the door.

He gasped at the sight of Yuri, and immediately shook his head in denial. She was kneeling in front of the scroll with her two hands over it, dressed in the native costume of the village. What she said next made him chock.

"Take me to Kutou." She whispered out, bending her head down so that her long hair covered her face completely. "Your kingdom that was also the threat to the kingdom of my husband."

"Yuri, no!" he yelled, he intended to run to her and grab her but a blue light began to form a shield around her, preventing him from even touching her.

"Seishuku? You are not meant to se this!" Yuri whispered as the light began to surround her, making her look rather unearthly. "Seishuku…Hotohori…you can not come with me to Kutou! You are needed in Konan."

"I am not going to let you go alone this time!" he yelled, pounding on the shield.

Yuri only shook her head, the light around her suddenly grew very bright and they began to cover her. When she raised her head again her two arms were barely visible as the lights were so bright.

"I really wanted you to come with me, just as I almost gave in when you asked me to take you with me that time in Konan. Do you remember, just before Seiryuu…"

"And the memory of you leaving me still hurt me even now if I ever allow myself to think about it." Seishuku slid onto the ground, his hands still on the shield as he continued to hope that he could breach this barrier somehow.

"I love you, is that enough for you to forgive me again?" Yuri whispered before the light covered her face.

Seishuku could only let out a sob and bury his head in his face, Taka and Miaka both looked at him sympathetically, while the rest were simply too shocked to offer any form of comfort.

"Why do you to this to me for the second time, Suzaku?" he whispered.

Suddenly, he smiled, it was a very strange smile though, and the frightening part was that the smile conveyed more sadness then his tears. It seemed the smile of one who gave up all his hope that he could not even manage to cry anymore, all he could was to smile as he was so desperate that he even mocked his own feelings due to the happier memories all being suppressed.

He walked to the discarded scroll and picked it up very calmly.

"Seiryuu, can you hear me?" he whispered to the scroll softly. "I want to go with Yuri."

Without warning, a chuckle rang in Seishuku's ear, he immediately knew that it was the voice of Seiryuu, the deity that Yuri served as priestess, also the same deity that had killed her. When he gained his memory, he was not sure what he felt for Seiryuu. He hated him to an extent for what he did to Yuri, even though Yuri was with him at that time, and she had constantly told him it was not Seiryuu's fault for obeying the rules in regard to the sacrifice.

"The main thing is that I am here with you now." Yuri had said softly as she embraced him tightly in the hospital. "Let us forget about the pain our partings gave us, because we are together now.

"But she is not here anymore." He said to himself.

"You wish to go with her? Seishuku…no, Hotohori, one of the celestial warriors of Suzaku; Saihitei, the forth emperor of Konan."

"I do." He declared. "I will not let Yuri go alone anymore, especially after what she suffered last time."

He felt the laughter again, but it was not an unkind laughter, in fact, it seemed almost indulgent, like a parent to a stubborn child. Seishuku realized that despite what Seiryuu had to do to Yuri, he was actually rather fond of his priestess, and it seemed that since Yuri loved Seishuku so much, Seiryuu was willing to do something that would make her happy. If that meant sending Seishuku to Kutou with her, then so be it.

"I will grant you your wish then, as it doe not really matter, whether you arrive in Kutou or Konan first."

* * *

When Yuri first entered the universe of the four gods, she had ended up in the kitchen of the tavern that she ended up working in. The owner was not a bad man, as he thought that she was a girl who only turned to thievery due to desperation.

Upon seeing that she was rather pretty, he decided to be opportunistic and employ her, although this was done purely out of kindness. His two daughters were safer when Yuri was there, as most people were more interested in the grown woman instead of the two girls.

The employment only lasted a week though, due to the election of imperial concubines. He had attempted to get her taken instead of his daughters, which was understandable, as he loved his two daughters while she was nothing but a stranger.

This time, however, she was behind some sort of empty building in Kutou. This was probably more convenient, but she was rather puzzled. Seiryuu had said that he would send her to the palace so she could talk to the emperor immediately.3

The emperor of Kutou…she knew nothing of that man other then the fact that he would be a good ruler.

A soft groan coming behind her interrupted her thoughts and she quickly put on her simple makeshift cloak. She was about to edge away from the source of the sound when she suddenly noticed that the person who groomed was clothed in the same way Seishuku had this morning, and his raven hair was very long, as well as being secured with a red ribbon.

"Impossible…" she whispered as she grabbed the end of the person's hair to push it back, in order to see his face.

It was Seishuku…no, he was Hotohori now that he was in this world. It seemed more natural to call him that. To her he had always just been Hotohori, the emperor was Saihitei- he was the one she bowed to in the formal way that the ceremonies required an empress to do to the emperor.

She could only wait for him to wake up and explain to her how, as she already knew all the answers to why. Unclasping her cloak, she spread it over him, and held his hand in her's.

She shouldn't be happy to see him here, as he was not meant to be here, but she was still overjoyed that her beloved was beside her. She needed him, she always would just as she knew very well that he must have her by his side. She wouldn't be so afraid of what she must do this time, because he was with her.

"Is that how Miaka felt?" she asked herself softly.

"Hotohori…" she whispered the name out, it was a name that she rarely said in the past year, she had adjusted to calling him Seishuku faster then she had thought. Although the few times in their first months when she accidentally called him Hotohori, it did not matter that much, as Seishuku and Hotohori really meant the same thing.

Now I must call him Hotohori again, she thought, it still sounds so natural though, because I know that they are the same person. It is two lives but to me they seem just like one life, just like me.

He would not mind her calling him that. She recollected how he had asked her to say only his name when they were first alone.

* * *

_He was taking her around the palace, her arms resting on his. She was eighteen years old and although she had no boyfriends before, she was not so naïve as there was had been those who flirted with her, she was a rather attractive girl after all. But somehow the contact with this man…this emperor made her feel so nervous._4

_It is because he is the emperor, she whispered to herself firmly._

_A strange emperor to her too, not because he seemed so young, but because he told her that he wished to marry her as well as declaring out in front of everyone that he actually loved her._

"_Is the weather too warm?" the emperor asked, mistaking the blush that appeared on her cheeks for something else, but he did notice that the soft hint of red made her very attractive too._

"_No," she hastily replied, shaking her head quickly._

"_Do you like flowers?" he suddenly asked._

_She nodded, recollecting the many times she often pauses outside a florist's shop to admire at the flowers, but they had been a luxury that she could never afford. Since she lived in a rather shabby street in the city, flowers were naturally rather scarce._5

"_Then I think you will like the garden." He told her, pointing to their destination._

_The garden in front of her was the most beautiful garden she had ever seen with the most lavish collection of flowers. The flowers in the park and the flower shops could not compare with these at all._

"_Can I take some, your majesty…" she began._

_At this the emperor smiled rather sadly, "Please, Yuri, do not call me that when we are alone like now, I want you to call me Hotohori."_

"_Hotohori?"_

_He nodded. "That is my name, but few people ever called me by that. Actually, now that I think about it, only my mother had ever called me with my own name. To everyone else I am the emperor, and before that a prince so they always called me that or used your majesty. That make me feel as if I am only an object, not a man._

"_So please," he implored her as he took her two hands into his. "Only call me Hotohori in private. I want you at least to see me as a man, not just as the emperor."_6

_She had nodded, it was the first time when she was allowed to see the real man, as he took his mask off for her.

* * *

_

With a groan, Hotohori finally sat up. He knew that he was back in the universe of the four gods even before he was told of it. He was greeted with the same emotion as he felt when he returned to the village of Konan in Japan after his brief stay in Tokyo. The joyful feeling of homecoming.7

"Yuri?" This was his first concern, sitting up he was so relieved to see her crouching right beside him that he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Why did you do that?" he scolded her, a bit angry, "Why did you leave me again? I was so worried…"

Yuri saw him as the emperor of Konan once more, grabbing onto her hand even though the sleeping draught began to work. It had been so hard to leave him, but she had to, even though she knew what pain he would endure with her gone.

Did she really had a right in doing that to him a second time?

"I…" she mumbled, bending her head down to evade the anger in his eyes, although it would not have been so hard to look at his gaze if anger were the only emotion there in his golden eyes, it was mainly due to the concern and love in them.

Putting his hand on her head he tilted it up so that she would face him, he always hated it when she refused to meet his gaze, because it almost meant that she did not trust him or believed that he love her enough to be able to understand her action.

"I meant what I said, Hotohori, I am to go to Kutou but you are meant to accompany Miaka to Konan…"

He interrupted her speech by giving her a fierce kiss, then resumed his tight hold on her, fearing that she would escape as she had before.

"That doesn't matter now." He told her firmly. "I am not the emperor anymore, I do not have to be chained to any duties that forbid me to be with the woman I love, I can devote myself to her this time."

"But even if you are not the emperor of Konan, you are still a celestial warrior of Suzaku." Yuri said sadly. "At times like this, I am no longer your first priority…"

"I will protect you instead of Miaka, I will be your celestial warrior if you want, Yuri." He promised. "I do not think neither Suzaku or Seiryuu would grudge me so much for doing this, if Suzaku wields the power of love then he would allow me to do this, and Seiryuu…"

"You met Seiryuu?" she asked in surprise as his voice trailed off, as his tone was not fully hostile like before. He had always showed a rather strong dislike for Seiryuu due to what had happened to her as the priestess of Seiryuu.

"I talked to him, and I…I feel that he have affection for you that is like the relationship between Suzaku and Miaka." Hotohori was recollecting the kindness that Suzaku had showed his priestess when Miaka summoned him. "That is why I think he would not grudge you for a protector."8

"And know that I will protect you, even from your own protectors." She quoted out softly, remembering what Seiryuu had once said to her. "He is not a cruel god. Hotohori…I do not know if this is right or wrong, to have you protecting me instead of Miaka, but I am so happy that you will be with me."

"Then I will protect you as best as I can." He vowed to her, "I…I…" he paused a bit before he declared out. "I will save you instead of Miaka if such a choice must be made."

"You are breaking your vow but it would not matter that much, as after all, Miaka have so many others to protect her." As Hotohori loved her so much, he easily heard the hidden bitterness in her tone. Seeing his rather puzzled gaze, Yuri explained: "I was not joking when I said that I wished to have the love of my celestial warriors, to this day I sometimes think of what I did to them and feel great guilt and shame."9

* * *

It would not be wrong to describe the situation that Yuri and Hotohori left as a complete mess. With the exception of Taka, Miaka and Yui who already knew what would happen, everyone else was in a state of mental shock.

Hojun and Ju-An were trying to be calm as they were the eldest, but it was very difficult, as they had just seen their best friend and his wife disappearing into a scroll.

Ryoen had literally fell down after what had happened and Dokun would have helped his friend had he not been staring at the scroll himself.

Miaka exchanged a glance with Taka before she decided what she must do, they must arrive into their old world as soon as they can. Explanations…that would come later.

"That story is true then?" Hojun asked. "Our past lives."

"Yes and we have to return there now!" Miaka pleaded out. "Please, just trust me…"

"Aniki…" Ryoen muttered as Taka pulled him up. "Where are you now?"

"I can take you to him." Miaka said gently. "So listen to me…"

She made them all knelt down in a ring beside her as she herself touched the scroll and began to chant to Suzaku. as the red light began to surround t hem all she smiled as she was thinking of the universe of the four gods which she was returning too. It was a place where she had been happy, although she did suffer there as well, but because it was where she met Tamahome, she could ignore all the other sufferings she had.

Even though she was almost always protected by her celestial warriors she had suffered slightly, such as the time when Tamahome rejected her love due to various reasons, as well as being attacked by certain celestial warriors of Seiryuu.

But she was luckier then Yuri- she never had to face any painful decisions as Yuri did, and Tamahome had always made her his first priority. She would return and learn many new things, and grew in the process but most lessons would not be hard.10

* * *

1 I don't believe this but I am actually sort of used to calling them by their real name.

2 In the manga it seems all Miaka had to do was to open the scroll and jump in but Yuri's entrance need sometime so that is why she is chanting to Seiryuu.

3 I don't think I have explained this but initially Seiryuu was going to sent her to the palace, but due to brining another person (Hotohori) he had to divide the power, so he sent them to the next best place the temple. That is why the Suzaku warriors and Miaka will end up in the market.

4 This bit take place immediately after their first meeting.

5 I don't know if flowers will be really expensive in Japan too but in NZ flowers are quite expensive. Ha, the whole references to flowers just remind me of Weiss Kreuz. (for those who don't know, Weiss Kreuz is basically the creation of Koyasu Takehito)

6 This sentence is so hard to get right, because what I want him to say is that I want you to only call me by my name instead of my title when we are alone, but it can also be interpreted as you can only call me by my name when we are alone. So, remember, it's the first meaning.

7 The thing is I truly don't know in this story whether Hotohori is a good celestial warrior of Suzaku, because I really feel that he puts Yuri in front at times, like not going to find Taiitsukun with them. Although the real Hotohori is probably one of the best celestial warriors.

8 I like to think that the four beast gods all have some sort of affection in regard to their priestesses, despite the rules, in the book Suzaku does seem to be quite fond of Miaka. And I suppose for my story it make sense, in Hidden secrets Seiryuu actually took Yuri to Konan when he realized that her body could not last long enough for her to get there, and he also allowed her to back down by taking her to Konan before she and him…merged (?) in order for her to make the wishes.

9 If you think about it in the book Miaka really had it lucky, the first two celestial warriors she met ended up in love with her, while the rest all adore her due to what she did and said. Plus, one of the celestial warriors is the emperor so she didn't need to worry much about how the country sees her, as the priestess was made as a savior, instead of a harbinger. Compared this to Yui, whose celestial warriors are not the best of characters, and I don't think they all wanted to protect her, for example- I doubt that Soi would really care whether Yui is safe or not if it wasn't for Nakago. Then to Takiko, who probably have the worst deal so far, Uruki's father is sending assassins to them on a daily basis, while the rest of the country shun them as harbingers.

The warriors of Suzaku are really lucky too, they all grew up being told that it was an honor being one of the warriors of Suzaku, I'm not so sure about the warriors of Seiryuu, but defiantly not the warriors of Genbu. Tomite is relatively lucky, but Uruki's father want to kill him because of that, while Hikitsu was shunned by his whole tribe due to his special powers, and ended up having all these nasty rumors, such as him controlling monsters and all that..

10 I think I better clarify this, in my story Miaka didn't suffer that much as Yuri underwent many of her sufferings. (Yuri was the one who caught the fever, and the one who almost got killed by the bandits) as Yui is not in the story as the priestess of seiryuu Miaka didn't go to Kutou and suffer that much, and all her celestial warriors lived. The rape scene didn't happen either.

* * *

_Author's Note: another chapter done, yeah!!! Somehow my author's note keep on consisting what will happen in the next chapter…I will be giving my own version of Hotohori's past. I don't want to be misleading so I will mention now, like Hidden Secrets, this story is going to focus mainly on Hotohori and Yuri._


	6. Chapter Five

_Author's Note: I finished watching the last ova as well and…I don't like the overall story and that new girl (whatever her name is) really annoy me. Although to do her credit at least she changed out of her uniform, the fact that both Miaka and Yui would wear their uniform through out the story kind of annoy me. But I'll say that the last OVA is worth watching due to the Hotohori and Houki thing. The older Houki is drawn so beautifully, I really like Houki now. I think if I had written my fan fiction later, or had the ideas later then I might have done a Hotohori and Houki story instead._

_By the way I realize that I haven't done this when I should have, but I compelltey forgot about a disclaimer._

_So here it is._

_Disclaimer: I owe nothing of Fushigi Yugi and most stuff, they are all Watase Yuu's work._

* * *

The pool of water became distorted once more when Tenkou brought his fist into the small sink. His lip curled into a hard sneer as he saw the priestess of Seiryuu reunite with that man she loved. If he was right beside her, then his plans would be harder to carry out…

Yuri, the priestess of Seiryuu, she was the one he wanted to suffer the most. Even after all these centuries he recollected what had happened with great anger, how she had caused his perfect plan to collapse.1

She had been the perfect prey because of the depression she was in, having sinned just because she loved another, and had to leave him because of that, then the two dearest to her next to him had been killed because of her own action of loving another.

"You will cure me of this curse and let me be with him?" she had whispered as she touched the bruises and scales that covered half of her body, they were her punishment for loving another physically from the deity she was forced to serve. "And you will also bring them to life once again somehow?"

Because she was in that state of mental confusion she had taken his bait most eagerly, promising to bring what he required to him. She had signed her own doom as soon as she agreed.

His miscalculation was that she would kill herself instead in this deal when she had no way of going back.

"This time…I will not fail." He stated flatly, in a tone that left no room for doubt. He had learnt from his mistake and he knew that in order to destroy the priestess of Seiryuu, he must first destroy the celestial warrior of suzaku that she loved so much.

Because she was dead, he had been able to manipulate the one known as Hotohori. In the same way he was also wise enough to know that he must not completely limit his focus on one group of people, he must be careful about the priestess of Suzaku and the rest of her warriors as well.

Clicking his fingers he summoned Miiru and Rin, they were amongst his finest servants but he still had to prevent himself from openly sneering as he watched the two siblings that knelt down in front of his throne. Like the priestess of Seiryuu, they had fallen because of their consumption of forbidden love. The same petty emotion that was so important to all these humans.

"You two must destroy the priestess of Seiryuu and the priestess of Suzaku." he began, masking the contempt he had for them with what appeared to be genuine friendship toward his two subordinates.

His plan was simply but very effective, to simply break them by shattering their emotional barrier. A person become nothing more then a machine when they lost all their strength and will of carrying on. He wanted the two priestesses to be like that so they would lack the strength of living, let along summoning the four gods- which required a tremendous amount of will.

He preferred them to be broken instead of being killed, even though the end would be the same, as the first method would give him much more entertainment.

"The priestess of Suzaku is deeply loved by all of her warriors and it is this love that you must use against them." He instructed.

All are fool because they don't realize that too much love is dangerous, he added inside his head as he matched the two in front of them with this statement.

"Likewise, the priestess of Seiryuu's deep love for that man is what you must use to break her. I am confident," he declared with what seemed like true trust for the two that he would carelessly discard once they served his purpose. "That you two's powers will be able to manipulate them."

Miiru and Rin nodded before they stood up and prepared to depart, their hands joined together despite all the harm that had came to them ever since the day when they first rejoined their hand once more. It was ironic at what changed with one's growth.

As children they would hold their hands all the time, and people had even praised them for being such a pair of loving siblings. These same people would hurl stones at them when the two teenagers held their hand once more after many years of staying away from the other to prevent what still happened.

"One more word of warning," Tenkou was almost tempted to not tell them this, but then decided against it. The greatest amusement would not be seeing these two suffering, but it would be to see the priestess of Seiryuu reduced to a broken doll as soon as possible.

"The priestess of Seiryuu is the more dangerous one due to her love. It is true that the priestess of Suzaku loves as much as her, but unlike the priestess of Seiryuu, she would not do everything just for the sake of her loved ones. Remember the story of the Seiryuu priestess, she had killed for the sake of the man she love, and some of these people were innocent, and she knew it. She will do literally anything for him."

Once again he recollected what had happened so long ago, what she would have done just to be with the man that she love, as well as what she did to make him live. She had sacrificed the life of others in order to have his life continuing- the one who was like a brother to her!

When the left he turned to that pool of water again and once more, he began to observe her as she began to make her way toward the shinzaho of Kutou. It was probably too late for him to prevent her from taking it but he was certain that there would be an amusing show for him to see.2

* * *

Kutou finally managed to give her people the peace and stability that had long been absent with the reign of the new ruler. Due to this, the people of Kutou began to believe in their guardian, Seiryuu, once again.

They also regard Houkigou, Seiryuu's priestess with a very strong reverence, as Seiryuu would never have appeared and heal their long corrupted country without her. That was why she almost became a goddess to the people of Kutou.

While she was only ever spoken as the priestess, instead of a goddess, the people of Kutou would pray to her as well Seiryuu. It was clear that their new emperor felt the same way about her, as he erected a statue of her in the temple of Seiryuu when he rebuilt it. There would always be a group of people in the temple praying to Seiryuu or his priestess, some even travelled from the other end of the country just to visit the temple. Sometimes it was even possible to have visitors from Konan.

That was why the two strangers making their inquiries about the temple was not an usual sight, since the man and woman who held the other's hand so tightly as if there was a fear for the other disappearing, the warden thought of them as lovers who were celebrating their marriage by going to see the statue of Houkigou. This was rather common, as Houkigou and Saihitei's story was regarded as a very beautiful love legend by many.

The man appeared as unusually beautiful, and using the word beautiful to describe him was not strange at all, as he truly was that fair to look upon. Even though he was dressed very plainly, there was a strange air of authority around him, when he asked a question, they felt that they had to answer it.

His companion was a woman, this was distinguished from the figure that was barely visible due to the rather thick cloak she had on her, the cowl was pulled down to hid her face completely- although her long hair was still visible, and tresses of her curly hair managed to escape from the cloak's bound.

"There had been a miracle here in this temple!" one of the temple wardens declared out proudly.

"A miracle?" the woman asked rather sharply, her hand tightening on her companion's even more. "What sort of miracle?"

The statue had been based on one of the paintings done by the emperor, and it was said to bore a deep resemblance to Houkigou, the priestess of Seiryuu. Even though the people of Kutou managed to discover her real name: Houki Yuri, they still preferred to call her by her title if they must call her by something other then the priestess of Seiryuu, as they felt that she deserved to be addressed in such a respectful fashion.

Both the emperor and his guards recollected that the priestess of Seiryuu had rather short hair, they remembered this as they thought that it was a bit too short, rather unusual for a woman even if she was from a completely different world.3

So the statue was modelled with short hair, but the morning after it was erected in the temple, the priestess' hair became long and flowing, reaching up to her waist.

There was no way that someone could have sneaked in the temple and changed the statue in this fashion, although anyone could enter the temple at anytime. It was because the statue was made in a way that any more attempt of moulding it, would break completely.

"It must be a sign from Seiryuu," the warden ended, "it was said that Houkigou actually had very long hair, probably as long as your hair."

"Is that so?" the woman said with a slight amusement and wonder in her voice, automatically, she tugged her hood down even further.

It was good that she did so because she would have caused a great chaos due to being recognized immediately, the statue of her was almost like a photograph. She had seen pictures of many famous Greek statues before but she had never appreciated sculpturing as much as painting until now. This work truly captured that fragment of memory the emperor of Kutou had of her from their very brief meeting.

The statue was a china statue that allowed the artists to paint colours onto it, and the artist had done the paintings so carefully that the statue became even more real. The blue dress was darker at bits, and the hem of her skirt even seemed be rippling slightly.4

"I am smiling…" Yuri, as that was the identity of the strange woman, said in wonder. "Have they even seen me smile before?"

Hotohori was naturally her companion, he too, marvelled at the lifelikeness of the statue. Upon seeing the peaceful smile of the statue, he couldn't help but to smile tenderly at both the woman and her reflection.

Suddenly, they both gasped. Resting around the hair of the statue at the crown was that jade headdress. Hotohori could sense the power that was coming from it as easily as Yuri.

"The shinzaho of Seiryuu." Yuri whispered, her hand touched the part of her head that once had the headdress around. "I know that I am meant to get this."

"Should we go to the palace and find the emperor then?" Hotohori suggested.

She nodded. "I know almost nothing of him but I believe that he would help us. I think he will remember me, even though many years had passed."

Unknown to both Yuri and Hotohori, they arrived at the time when the emperor would be making one of his long customary visit. Even now, the wardens outside were beginning to clear the temple for their ruler.

* * *

The new emperor of Kutou was a very different emperor from most of his ancestors, technically he was not the new emperor as he was the emperor even before his brother died, because he was the rightful heir.

He was a strange emperor for Kutou as he was so idealistic, many other men who suffered what he suffered would often turn to the opposite way of thinking, to inflict the same pain onto the rest of the world, so that they would suffer what they had to.

Nakago was like that.

The emperor of Kutou was now in his late thirties, his thirty ninth year. He had elected no empress and many suspected that he no longer had any interest in women since his accident, although he did do his duty by providing Kutou with an heir that was now fifteen year old, a rather sombre boy who took his duties of helping his father very seriously.

It was said that the boy had been born from a maid in the palace before the emperor's accident happened. Since the emperor never selected any concubines due to the civil war that marked his first shorter reign, this bastard boy naturally became the heir. It was not unusual for such a thing to happen, although it was more preferable that the emperor to be was borne from an elected concubine, but since the boy's mother was not a prostitute, there were little objections.

The young boy had been beside his father when Yuri first came, liked the rest of the people of Kutou he saw her as a saviour. He would pray in front of the statue faithfully, recollection how the woman who had appeared in front of them was truly identical to this statue, as she seemed equally immobile.

His childish eyes judged her to be rather pretty, but it was not a beauty that appealed to him. The difference between the statue in the temple and the real woman was that the real pair of eyes had been too cold and distant, instead of staring at those who knelt in the temple with that peaceful smile that reached to her eyes.

As he grew older he learnt more about the legends and even travelled to the famous temple of Suzaku in the capital of Konan. Much to his disappointment he found nothing that could show him the humanity of the priestess of Seiryuu, that she had been a human being like him.5

Maybe that was why it was so easy for him to believe in her powers.

"Father, you are shaking. Are you unwell?" he asked in great concern as he guided his father to the door way.

"I have a very strange feeling, it was identical to what I felt before _she _came to my hideout and delivered her news." Was the strange reply. Turning to a warden, the emperor asked: "Who is in the temple right now?"

"Only a man and a woman, I was just going to get them out…"

"No." the emperor of Kutou said, waving his hand in a gesture of dismissal at all the wardens. "Leave them be."

* * *

Instead of following Hotohori and turning away from the statue, Yuri found herself taking another step toward it, and even stretched out her hand. It was not as if she had lost command over her body's actions, it was only that she could not force her mind to be rational.

The shinzaho was calling out to her, just as the book had called her to it all these years ago. She wanted to grasp that headdress into her own hands right now, and she knew that it wanted her to claim it.

She could no longer remember who had first twirled the jewellery around her hair, she had been like a corpse as she prepared to summon Seiryuu, because she must be the living sacrifice. She was only aware of the decoration in her hair when she peered into the water to see her self one last time.

Seiryuu did devour her, and this headdress was the only thing that he had left. Later on, the emperor of Konan, Kotsuki, sent this back to Kutou along with his agreement of the peace treaty.6

Without any one telling her Yuri knew that the headdress was the shinzaho of Seiryuu. Since she was the priestess of Seiryuu, it could be said to be her possession.

Hotohori was wise in suggesting going to the emperor first, and that would be the most logical thing to do. The emperor of Kutou would help her, but she was ignoring any logic.

Yuri closed her hand over the headdress and slid it off the statue. The moment her flesh came to contact with the jade, a soft blue light began to illuminate around the headdress.

"Yuri…" Hotohori began again.

"I do not know why or how, but I have to take this right now." Yuri explained.

The emperor of Kutou choose to enter at this moment with his son, the first thing they both noticed was that the sacred headdress was no longer resting on the statue, but in the woman's hand instead.

To them, the jade headdress was sacred, not just because it had been deemed as holy items left by Seiryuu along with the ceremonial robe since a the stories were first told, but because like the robe, it was one of the only physical things they had to remember their priestess by.

At the sight of the emperor Yuri was shocked, as she could actually recognize him, although she did not even know his name. As for the equally well dressed young man beside him, that must be the little boy who had stared at her rather fearfully from behind the throne.

"How dare you!" the emperor hissed, he was angry but somehow he could not convey the anger fully.

Yuri raised her hand to push the cowl of her cloak down, and at the same time pulled the white hair ribbon off, her long hair immediately fell down in a thick abundance of curls.

"Do you recognize me now?" she asked softly.

The crown prince literally chocked as he saw the priestess of Seiryuu again with her statue right behind her. It was as if the reflection of the mirror had decided to play a trick by appearing as well, as the likeness of the priestess had been caught down so well.

He was so shocked that he almost tripped when he felt his father pulling him down to kneel beside him.7

* * *

Meanwhile in Konan, Miaka and the rest of her celestial warriors had arrived. With the exception of her and Taka, whom she knew that she must call Tamahome, as that is who he is now, everyone else was not reacting well to all that had happened.

Some of them still had great difficulty in believing that they actually travelled through a scroll, while for those who managed to suspend their believes about how they got there, they were now trying to work out where they were- which was another great shock.

"But where is this place?" Dokun chocked out once more. "It seems like ancient china but yet I have never seen these names in any encyclopaedia."8

"Well…" Miaka began nervously, unsure of how to explain this. Even though some of the reincarnated celestial warriors believe in the concept of past lives this was still a very hard thing to explain.

"The thing is…" she began.

"Did we fall into a time portal or something?" Genro mumbled, eying everything with suspension, especially the two girls who stood a few pace away from them, and pointing at him, giggling. "Keisuke would love this place."9

"I'll go and ask someone." Hojun decided practically after he exchanged a glance with Ju-An, after all, the two of them were the oldest.

"Ryoen, your brother and Yuri at least seem to know about what is happening." Ju-An said softly, as they all waited for Hojun. The two of them decided that it would be best for them to hide here for a while, until they knew what kind of situation they had stumbled into.

Ryoen could only nod. Like the others he was deeply confused at what happened last night, why Yuri was able to be disappeared into a scroll with his brother, and the strange conversation that she had with Seishuku.

Once more, it sounded as if something had happened to them a few years ago, before that fateful meeting in the hospital, but he knew full well that the first time Seishuku left the village had been with him.

"I don't know anything anymore." Ryoen whispered.

"Who does?" Genro said good naturedly. "After all we fell into a scroll, as crazy as that sound."

"Their cloths…" Ju-An was just going to make some remark about the familiarity of the peasant's clothes when they were suddenly approached by two fully armed man.

"You, what is your name!?" one of them barked to Ju-An, clearly because he seemed the oldest in the group."

"My name? It is Ju-An."10

"What is your trade?"

"Why are you asking him this?" Genro butted in, waving his fist in a rather threat-like fashion.

At this blunt threat the two guards, as that was what the two men were, scoffed and took out their imperial orders.

"YOU WANT ME TO GO TO THE PALACE WITH YOU AS A POSSIBLE CONCUBINE FOR THE EMPEROR!!!" Miaka's screeches were three time sharper as usual as she read the words on the imperial document.

"Don't make such a fuss!" one of the guards snapped, grabbing her hand. "You might not even be deemed suitable."

Somehow this seemed so much more offensive then her being seen as a possible candidate.

"Don't you dare lay a hand on her!" Tamahome yelled, pulling Miaka back to him. "Don't you know who she is?"

Meanwhile Hojun had made his way discreetly back the moment he saw this chaos. Even though he was very confused at the information that he just heard, including this kingdom's mere existence, he was wise enough to accept the facts first and try to get out of this mess, then debate about the reality.

"But we are foreign to this place…" he began with what he hoped as a natural laugh.

"Yes, we are from…" Ju-An quickly caught on.

"Your origin does not matter, we were ordered to take any virgin girls who seem beautiful enough." The other guard explained, stepping up to take Miaka by the wrist again. "Beside, the last empress of Konan was actually foreign."

"But she is not a virgin!" Ju-An suddenly burst out.

"Yes, yes, she already…" Hojun began.

In a way it was almost funny, this took them to the night before Seishuku's wedding with Yuri when the soon to be groom had asked the two of them why they were still not married, when they both knew who they wanted to marry.

"Because I feel that I want to see more of the world." Hojun had replied, quickly followed by Ju-An's: "Yes, I want to learn more."

"Why don't you marry Shoka then and take her with you, you know she will follow you." Seishuku demanded to Ju-An, then turned to Hojun. "And you, you are worse, you know you want to marry her so why don't you at least tell her?"

"But that'll be unfair because I am not ready to be spend enough time wit her, as I will need for a marriage." Ju-An finally said.

"Yes, yes, I am not ready to settle down yet." Hojun added.

Like last time, the first part was true while the second bit was a lie.

Miaka had to ruin the two men's hard work.

"How dare you say that I am not a virgin? I am a virgin!" she snapped back at them.11

"Miaka…" Ryoen muttered in exasperation. "You can be so…"

"Hand her over!" the guards said together. "Or…"

"She is the priestess of Suzaku, how dare you treat her like this?" Tamahome finally screamed out.

For the first time the two guards realized the strange clothing all these seven people were wearing underneath their cloak, the clothes were queer both in the style and the material. Now that they thought about it, the cloth on the girl does seem rather like the description they had heard.

"Then please come to the palace with us." Immediately, the two changed to tones of the utmost respect. "There will be many in the palace who have seen you before."

Miaka nodded. "So, how long has it been?"

"Priestess of Suzaku, it has been four years since Suzaku and Seiryuu were called out, and four years since the death of Saihitei and Houkigou."

"Wait wait wait! What did you just call her, and what is all this?" Genro burst out.

Miaka and Tamahome exchanged glances again before they nodded. It was time to tell them what had happened.

* * *

When Miaka and Tamahome finally finished telling the story of what had happened in their past life, they were in the palace. Throughout the journey everyone had been unusually quiet, even Genro, and the two of them viewed that as a good sign.

"That seems crazy though." Ryoen said. "That I, well…"

"Used to cross dress and was in love with Hotohori, who is reborn as Seishuku." Ju-An managed to finish the sentence with his typical straight face. "But then it kinds of make sense, how Seishuku behaved when he saw Yuri in the hospital."

"Hotohori had been married to Yuri, they were married for more then two years." Miaka continued, she just has to add the last bit of the story in, that Hotohori had also been the emperor of Konan.

"I think it is possible," Hojun decided, "In view of all this it must be possible."

"There really is no other explanation." Dokun agreed, before he began another analyze of what was happening. He was very intelligent and studious, but he was not chained to any scientific idea as one might have believed due to his studying.

The rest five all had to believe that they had a past life here when the older member of the emperor's court came out and recognized them as the celestial warriors of Suzaku. Satisfied, it was deemed that they should be taken to the emperor immediately.

"So how did we manage to get into the palace anyway?" Genro whispered to Miaka, still managing to slap Tamahome when his hand was itching towards a very elaborately decorated candleholder.

Miaka and Tamahome both recognized this path as the way to the emperor's private quarters. From what she heard, the emperor was still unmarried, this made Miaka wander what happened to the empress' private quarters, the chambers that had once belonged to Yuri. Were they left the way they were? Or did they completely change with the arrival of a new overall owner?

All these rituals seemed rather reminiscent to Miaka, after all, it had only been more then one year for her. As she watched the guards knelt she remembered how she had once stood behind some guards like this, only that she was waiting for another emperor.

"The priestess of Suzaku? Are you sure?" even the voice was familiar, but it was a bit higher then Hotohori's voice.

The new emperor of Konan was now twenty years old, having been only sixteen when he was told by Suzaku to take over the throne from his older half brother.

His hair was loose and down as well, but they were not as dark as the hair of his half brother's hair. Hotohori's hair was a very deep raven back, while the current emperor's hair was more of an olive brown.12

Even though he resembled Hotohori greatly, he lacked that haunting, and even shocking beauty his elder half brother had been blessed with. He could and would be described as handsome, but not as beautiful.

Somehow he also seemed much younger, although when she first saw Hotohori, he was only twenty years old as well. But then Hotohori had been burdened with a kingdom that was on the brink of destruction, as that was the condition a country would be in with the appearance of the Suzaku priestess.

"My name is Kotsuki." The young man said softly. "I am the fifth emperor of Konan."

"I am Miaka, the priestess of Suzaku. And they are all celestial warriors of Suzaku in their previous lives, only that some of them don't remember their life here yet!" Miaka declared happily, reaching out to grab the emperor's hand impulsively. At first Kotsuki frowned at the boldness of the girl, but he smiled as he though about the tales that he had heard of the priestess of Suzaku.

"You all look like the paintings in the temple of Suzaku. In the first year of my reign I consented to my people's wish of having the images of the seven celestial warriors painted and put in the temple of Suzaku where they could all pray to." Kotsuki explained, continuing in a rather soft voice, he had been born with a rather quiet nature that had to adjust most severely with his new position.

"Tamahome; Nuriko; Chichiri; Taisuki; Mitsukake and Chiriko." He told each of them. As he finished Chiriko's name he frowned and turned to Miaka, his eyes suddenly very dark.

"But where is my brother? Why is he not with you all?" Kotsuki demanded, a hint of command creeping into his voice. "And where is Houkigou too? I though that she and he would both be here as well."

"I believe that Yuri…Houkigou is in Kutou now…" Miaka began, but was interrupted by everyone else's scream or yell of shock, with the exception of Tamahome, who was now fixing his gaze on the elaborate furniture in the emperor's room.

"Yuri was Houkigou, the empress of this country?"

"Yes, Yuri is the name of my brother's wife." Kotsuki added, completely failing to comprehend their shock. "I want to meet her too, the empress so loved by her husband that he refused to elect another even though she gave him no children. Also, because she seems to be the one person who truly know and understand my brother."

"Wait…if Yuri was Houkigou, the last empress of this kingdom then this means that…" Ju-An chocked out.

"My brother was Saihitei, he was the emperor of this country?" Ryoen added in equal shock. "I am actually sort of related to royalty?"

"Hotohori was a celestial warrior of Suzaku as well as being the forth emperor of Konan." Mika finally said this line out. "And Ryoen, you had been a concubine in this palace who was in love with him."

"I really wish that you are joking." Ryoen groaned out. "But somehow I don't think that you are. I don't even want to think about the fact that I was in love with another man, who is now my brother, let along asking why I became a concubine to the emperor"

"I can take you to the temple of Suzaku if you wish," Kotsuki interrupted politely after he dismissed their escort with some form of order. "Perhaps that will help some of you to recollect your past life.

"But first…" at this the young emperor's voice actually became even more quiet, and he actually bent down his head slightly as he turned to Ryoen. "I have a favour to ask from you first."

"A favour? But aren't you the emperor? Isn't the emperor the most powerful man?" Ryoen muttered, rather uneasy at this sudden display of humbleness. The modern system of Japan's monarchy was very different from the absolute monarchy of Konan, but they could easily realize the high status that the emperor of this land had, therefore they were all uneasiness at the possibility of a request.13

"I have a request that no one else can grant me." Kotsuki declared softly, but steadily. "I want you to tell me more about Hotohori, my brother, who is now your brother."

"I remember nothing of my own past life, let along his past life." Ryoen said.

"Then tell me of his new life. I want to know, I need to know." At the rather curious glances from the others he smiled rather sadly, and Ju-An and Hojun both recollected how they saw Seishuku smiling in that same haunting way when Yuri had disappeared into the scroll without him, it was the first time when they saw a smile that expressed more sorrow then tears.

As Seishuku the young man had no cause to smile that way as he had pretty much all he wanted, and with the birth of his children he really though that everything would be well. What had made him even happier was that he could appreciate these simple happiness due to remembering what had happened in his past life as Hotohori.

Then he saw Yuri disappearing into the scroll, leaving him for the second time. The memories he had tried to suppress all rushed back to him again, the months he had to live without her as well as her death…

That was why he could smile in the same way as Hotohori had often smiled…

"All that I know of my brother I know from the perspective of a subject, I know that as Saihitei he was a good and fair ruler, and like most of the people in Konan I have heard the legends of how much he love Houkigou. But other then that…I have nothing."

"Have you never talked to your brother at all?" Ryoen asked, feeling great empathy for this man's wish, although he himself could not imagine being distant from his own brother. Since he was only an infant, Seishuku had played and looked after him. Ryoen had his own large group of childhood friends too but the most special time was always the time when he was with his elder brother and his two friends.

"Seishuku is such a good brother, he lets his little brother do anything." Was the very common saying in the village whenever anyone saw the two brothers walking side by side.

Ryoen only started to have a friction in his original 'intimate' relationship with his brother due to his continuing disapprove of Seishuku's marriage.

Maybe it was jealousy from the past life…it was easier to think that then to blame himself fully. Secretly he knew that he disapproved of the marriage not because it was too quick, but because he actually resented how Yuri became the centre to Seishuku's life the moment she entered.

It might have been better for him to admit this and talked about it with maybe his parents or Seishuku's two best friends. Ju-An and Hojun were almost like brothers to him too, or at the very least like elder cousins, but he did not want anyone to accuse him of having an elder-brother complex.

"I had little chance of talking to my brother through out my whole life." Was the short reply.

Nodding, Ryoen began to tell the emperor all he could about Seishuku, his elder brother, along with additional help from Ju-An and Hojun at times.

"He is truly the best brother, now that I think about it there had been times when he talked to me about how he wanted to be a good brother."

This had been before he choose to go to live in Tokyo, but at that time both Ju-An and Hojun had already left. Upon finding his brother sitting in front of the empty fields one morning, he had joined him although he should be heading to school.

"I'm just thinking." Seishuku said easily, dismissing Ryoen's question about his wellbeing. "Hojun left the village just as Ju-An, and some people are now wondering when I will leave the village since the three of us have been best friends since our infancy."

"Are you going to?" he asked nervously.

"I will not leave Konan." Seishuku stated softly, ruffling his brother's now short hair.

"That's good, because I don't want you to go away!" he had said passionately, hugging his elder brother tightly.

"Because I am such a good brother?" Seishuku's tone seemed very light-hearted but Ryoen could sense the seriousness in them.

"You are the best brother in the world!" he stated firmly.

"That is good then, as that is what I want to be." leaning back Ryoen was shocked at the relief that appeared on Seishuku's face. "I don't know why, Ryoen, but sometimes I have this fear nagging at me, the fear that I am a horrible brother who will be hated by my siblings."

Ryoen felt a strange connection to the young emperor who stood next to him due to the fact that in a way, they were both younger brothers to the same man.

"Was he speaking of his past?" he demanded. "Just as you want to know about Seishuku, I want to know more about my brother when he was Hotohori."

"I have told you that I know little about my own brother." Kotsuki said, like Ryoen, he felt a tie between himself and the reincarnation of the Suzaku warrior previously known as Nuriko. "But yes, in his past life as Hotohori, he was a bad brother although that was certainly not his fault. He had also been hated by his other siblings, including me." Seeing the curious glance of the others, even Dokun and Genro, who knew very little of Hotohori, Kotsuki nodded and began to explain.

"Hotohori and I were the son of an emperor who did not care for any of his five sons or two daughters at all. All our life we were looked after by our mother, who competed with each other very heatedly for the price position of being the mother of the future emperor.14

"Like Hotohori, I was the younger out of two brothers. The only difference is that my mother had only been a concubine, while his mother was the empress. Although my mother's triumph card was that she had gave birth to the emperor's first son. I knew nothing of that brother either, he was my mother's price, I was just the extra backup. Like all my other siblings, we were raised being secluded from each other.

"Hotohori said something like that to me once." Miaka butted in. "That was when Yuri was gone, he told me that he became the emperor at fourteen due to his mother's action, and his two elder brothers then led a rebellion, supported by his younger brothers."

Kotsuki nodded. "Yes, I did support my full brother. But that is too far ahead of my explanation. I saw Hotohori wandering in the garden and he seemed so lonely and sad that I believed we could be friends. I actually went up and talk to him. We were only children at that time, I was eight and he was twelve, being four years older.

"We only exchanged two sentences before our mothers both dragged us off, but I then felt that this brother of mine was someone that could be my friend. At that time he must have though the same too, because from that day on if we happened to walk past one another, he would always smile at me shyly in these rare meeting."

"What went wrong then?" Miaka interrupted again. She was brought to that time when she found Hotohori kneeling in Yuri's room, almost sobbing with despair, after reading out Yuri's letter he had told her about how lonely his life had been. A large family that was not even a family.

"He became the emperor. At that time I was only ten, ignoring both my mother and brother's orders I went to see Hotohori in his court, I even prepared a gift for him. I had hoped to be loved by him and he certainly greeted me warmly before he walked with me in the garden. I really thought that from now on we would become good brothers…

"When we returned…" what happened that day still caused anger as the emperor's hand clenched tightly over the hilt of his sword. "When we returned I was faced with his mother and a group of guards. Before I knew what happened I was in the dungeon. In there, I was beaten everyday and I only managed to escape there due to the civil war that our other elder brothers started.

"After what happened I though that he did this on purpose. So I easily began to hate him…"

"I don't believe you!" Miaka yelled. "Hotohori would never do something like that. It must be his mother. She must have done something to make you appear guilty in his eyes."

"It seems so ironic that you can understand what took me years to realize so quickly." The emperor whispered sadly. "Yes, that was what happened. His mother hid a dagger in my gift to him. I was arrested on the ground of treason, and he probably believed that too…I can't really blame him for being manipulated so easily as it was his own mother who tied the shackles on him.

"Anyway, the revolts were crashed and I managed to escape with my own life although my mother and full brother both failed to. The empress did not just execute them, she would not be satisfied until she tortured them. I naturally spent the next years living in hiding, growing up hating Hotohori all this time.

"Then one day I heard of the news of the imperial marriage, by that time I was fourteen, the same age as Hotohori when he ascended, but unlike him I was still like a child. I had a ridiculous plan of assassinating him, believing I would achieve satisfaction that way. It was pathetic but I blamed everything on him.

"So I stood amongst the people, and I saw them being carried on the litter. Around me, everyone else was yelling with joy, some were even throwing flowers at the emperor with his new empress. I was suddenly puzzled as I asked myself for the very first time: how could this well-loved man be the same villain that I cursed every night?

"His new empress was waving at the crowd with what seem to be true sincerity, then she turned to him and I saw the tender smile on his face as he took her hand to whisper something. I suddenly remembered my first meeting with him, how he had smiled like that. It was well that I remembered that incident as I also recollected the way his mother had glare at me…

"Somehow that made me more rational, and once I compared what happened during his reign before and after his mother's death, it was obvious that any cruelty was done because of his mother.

"I actually began to throw flowers like the rest, truly glad for him. But even though I stopped my foolish hatred, I still did not know him. I continued to live outside the palace in hiding although I no longer need to, but I did it out of guilt for what I almost done. Thus I knew no more then what the rest of his people knew."15

At the same time when the young emperor ended his story with a sigh, they heard a soft knock. Kotsuki seemed to recognize the person just by this knock as he smiled in that strange way as again that made them wonder whether he was happy or sad.

A young woman entered, probably only a year or two older then Miaka. Judging by the clothes she had, she must be servant to someone with a very high rank. Her clothes were made from materials that were fine but their very simple cut style revealed her status as a servant, as no women of a high rank would ever wear such a dress. But strangely her hair was held up by a head dresser that seemed a bit too elaborate for a simple maid.

She knelt down in front of the emperor and in a very soft voice she asked him what he desired. Miaka suddenly crouched down to look at this woman in the face, as she was sure that she had seen this woman before.

"Chinatsu, I am going to the temple of Suzaku with the celestial warrior and priestess of Suzaku so make sure that it is empty." Kotsuki said, strangely enough his tone was not one of ordering, but of affection.

"I do what the new emperor demands of me." the young woman called Chinatsu answered in a very flat tone. Because she was right beside the two of them, Miaka was certain that the emperor's face changed at this very former address.

"Who are you?" Miaka asked in her usual blunt fashion when the woman stood up and was prepared to leave. "I think I have seen you before."

"You would have, priestess of Suzaku." the woman said very sadly. "My name is Chinatsu and along with my twin sister Chiharu we used to be the maids of the empress." 16

"But Kotsuki have no empress!" Miaka frowned.17

"Not the fifth empress of Konan which does not exist, but will." At this her fists actually clenched together. "I was the private maid of Houkigou, the fourth empress of Konan!"

This time, she shut the door behind her. Everyone quickly turned to Kotsuki but once again, his face had become rather emotionless. Miaka and Tamahome couldn't help but to compare him with Hotohori as they thought about the burden their following celestial warrior had to bear.

Tamahome had been angry that Hotohori had choose to go with Yuri when he should have stayed with Miaka, who was his priestess. But once more, he could understand the other man slightly but thinking about what he would do had their position swapped.

After witnessing what just happened with Hotohori's brother and the woman he seemed to have affection, they were beginning to understand why Hotohori would threw away his obligations this time.

As the emperor he had been held back by chains which he only broke free due to their new life. Now it seemed the chains were trying to tangle him with it once again, and so he grabbed onto Yuri to shatter them.

* * *

1 This all relate to my weird prologue as I mentioned before. Another story.

2 During Tenkou's entrance I have focused on a lot of what is in my weird prologue (another story, but I think I lose courage of writing it as it will be very radical) but I will explain what had happened in the end. Basically it kind of talk about the life they had before this life and I promise, everything that happened would all link.

3 I mean, this is a world where woman all have long as waist length hair, and the shortest is probably up to their shoulders and Yuri cut her hair so that it just touched her shoulder. The men in this world often have rather long hair as well, cause many hold it up so it must be tolerable long, like Nuriko's brother.

4 This was actually really problematic. I didn't know what kind of statue it should be, I didn't want it to be gold or silver or something like that, but people in ancient china doesn't seem to have focused on life like sculptures and paintings that much. I mean, no offence, but all the emperor's paintings and all doesn't seem to be that life like. But then it would just be that I am not use to that kind of style. And I also want color, that is an important factor. So I decided to make it a china statue. By the way the statue is not wearing the robes of the priestess of Seiryuu for the practical reason that later on in the story Yuri would be wearing them.

5 Konan does not have any paintings of Yuri at all.

6 Kotsuki is one of Hotohori's younger brother, which came out in the Hotohori novel. The two brothers seemed to be quite close, although Kotsuki got killed by Hotohori's mother, and she framed him for trying to kill Hotohori.

7 Ye emperor of Kutou needs a name and I decided to Kamiyasu, although I don't know, I have no idea whether the grammar is actually right. Kami (神)means some form of god, while Yasu(安) kind of means peace or safety. So神安. His name is kind of meant to be ironic considered what he used to be like and what actually happened to him.

8 Right now, Miaka and the rest arrives in Konan…

9 I didn't believe I would actually say this but it was weird calling them by their name as the celestial warriors. So this is what I will do, for those who know who they are (Hotohori/Seishuku, Tamahome/Taka) I will call them by their name as the celestial warriors, but for everyone else until they gain back their memory I will call them by their real name.

10 I am presuming that most people in the universe of the four gods only know them by their name as celestial warriors.

11 This just seems a typical rather blond thing for Miaka to do, this bit actually remind me of the bit in the anime when they were caught by bandits. Nuriko had offered to be taken instead of Miaka, but Miaka actually refused. Which does show she is not the brightest at time.

12 This is kind of my private joke. I think Hotohori's hair should be black, but his hair in the anime is like an olive brown.

13 I don't know that much about Japan's government system but I have the impression that it is pretty like England. Meaning the rulers does not have absolute power, although some people still hold them in awe. Or at the very least, you will be rather awed at meeting them.

14 This is my own version of Hotohori's family story, and it will be very different from the novel.

15 Finished for now and I quite like it, I always wander about Hotohori's past so I am glad to have the opportunity of giving my own version.

16 I was looking at a site of Japanese name when I saw the names Chiharu and Chinatsu, and I just thought that it is really pretty and it really will be a good name for Yuri's two maids, who are twins. Chiharu (千春) means a thousand spring while Chinatsu (千夏) will mean a thousand summer. Chi(千) haru(春), Chi(千) natsu(夏).

Incase some of you don't remember, before Yuri died she gave some of her jewelries along with their freedom to the two girls. The head dresser that Chinatsu wear is one of them.

17 I think this is quite like Miaka, calling Kotsuki by his name. I mean she is probably the only one who call Hotohori by his name (which is good, I have to admit). And in the very beginning she would call him Hotohori then quickly change to call him the emperor.

* * *

_Author's Note: I think this is a good place to stop. It is kind of ironic as even though most of this chapter seem to be with Miaka and the other warriors of Suzaku, it is actually talking about Hotohori's character. At least I hope to have illustrated with what I think is his character. I realize that buried memories doesn't seem to have that much plot right now. It almost seem to be about showing the character of Yuri and Hotohori more._

_Anyway, in the next chapter we move back to Yuri and Hotohori once more, who would have arrived in the palace of Kotou. A bit more plot will be developed, as Miiru is going to launch on what you may call an attack._


	7. Chapter Six

_Author's Note: I must be honest and admit that the reason it take me so long to update is because I haven't been that motivated as I had almost no review when I put my latest chapter up. I can't help it, like most people I need reviews as an encouragement. But I am back as I do want to finish the story. So please…leave me a review if you read it! _

* * *

Due to what Yuri insisted, the kingdom of Kutou remain oblivious to the fact that their beloved priestess was actually back in their own world. Yuri and Hotohori had made their way back to the palace of Kutou with their faces hidden, and they were served by maids and servants who swore the strongest oath of secrecy.

"I do not know what to do at all." Yuri admitted, fingering the shinzaho that she placed on her lap, instead of winding around her hair. "I truly do not know how to start."

The two of them, with the crown prince, had spend many days searching through the library of Kutou, which was rather limited as many of Kutou's treasures had been destroyed in the civil war when Kamiyasu was usurped.

All she knew was that as the priestess of Seiryuu she must find the shinzaho of Genbu but it had been sent back to Hokkan. They could send messengers to Hokkan but the problem was that with the exception of Konan, Kutou was still not well received by the other kingdoms.

Konan…It was so strange to think of the kingdom being ruled by someone else other then her husband now that he was in this universe again. It was because he had been so dominated by that country.

"The new emperor…he is a good ruler is he not?" Hotohori had asked, recollecting the promise Suzaku had made him. If he did abandon his people and land for the sake of the woman that he loved, then they must be left in good hands.

"He is a good enough ruler." The emperor of Kutou had answered. "Had he been in a situation as his elder brother was then he would find ruling difficult, but as he rules in a time of peace, he will be a good ruler."

"I still don't know what to do, Seiryuu…you brought me here so can you not give me another answer?" she implored.

Yuri was kneeling in front of the statue of Seiryuu in the palace of Kutou, desperate for an answer. She had suddenly waked up in the middle of the night and for some strange reason, made her way here.

"Even if I have both Shinzahos, I still do not know how to do what I must do." She whispered. "You tell me to remember what happened last time, but I no longer have the sacred scroll and my celestial warriors are all dead."

The slight uneven footsteps betrayed the identity of the person who entered, it was the emperor.

"Your majesty," she said respectfully, still in her kneeling position.

She knew a bit more about this man now, the most important discovery being the certainty that he was a good man. But strangely she was sudden possessed with the desire of leaving, and wishing that he had not caught her alone. It was strange, as his behaviour towards her had been nothing but what one would expect of an emperor to the priestess that helped him. He bowed every time he approached her, and only addressed her as 'priestess'.

"Yuri…" the way her name was spilt so softly and gently made her certain that her instinct was not foolish.

"I…I…" she was going to remind him of her status and his, and that she was in love with the one she wedded in both worlds.

But he was first.

"Do you know why I have no empress?" he whispered, wise enough to not shorten the distance between them.

"If it is because of me then it is a foolish reason." She said softly, but very firmly.

"Perhaps I am a fool, but I think many would not blame me. After all, the priestess of Seiryuu had given me back the kingdom that was taken from me."

"Is that enough for you to idolize her?" Yuri asked rather reproachfully. "You knew nothing of me, you had only saw me for a brief moment."

"I have heard the story of Saihitei and Houkigou, and as I recalled, your husband asked you to become his empress in front of all his officials the moment he saw you. Why is it so easy to condemn me for what I feel?"

"I…" at this she could only sigh as in a way he was right.

"That brief meeting I had of you was enough to make me realize that I wish to have no empress if you are not my empress. When I first saw you, I thought that no one else could be more beautiful, and the way you carried yourself in your robes made you look like some sort of goddess. I felt that you could grant any…"

"You are completely wrong to think that I am powerful, I was merely a vessel for Seiryuu. As for wishes…I could not even grant my own wish." She interrupted him hastily, now standing up and was slowly heading to the door as well as avoiding going near him.

"Do you really think I am the type of man who would force himself on a woman even if she was not the priestess whom he regarded as almost as sacred as his god?" Kamiyasu asked rather reproachfully. "True, as a youth long ago I was not what you would call a good man, but I have changed greatly. Priestess of Seiryuu, I will not harm you in anyway.

"I merely wish to tell you that in a strange way I have great affection for you. I am uncertain whether it is love but I know enough that I wish to wed no other but you."1

"Why tell me this?"

"For the simple reason that I just want you to know. That if something happens to you, know that I will always welcome you."

Saying so he finally walked toward her, slightly shaking due to his limp, and offered his hand to her. Understanding what was given, she gently put her hand on his arms and began to aid him to walk.2

She did not and would never love this man, and until a few days ago she felt nothing towards him. But as he declared out his feelings, she felt a deep pity for him. It was not the same love Hotohori bore her, what would torment him forever, but it was an affection that was in a way more strong then romantic love. She knew that this man in front of her would never alter his feelings, although he should.

Hotohori had told her something similar- how he had idolize the priestess of Suzaku so much that he ended up half being in love with her. He was a child surrounded by loneliness and the story began as a way of refuge, an ideal that became a reality.

Some may break free from this as he had done, but she feared Kamiyasu would not.

"I will never stop loving Hotohori." She told him firmly as they began to walk out of the temple, but her tone was very gentle as she began to tell him what Hotohori had once been like.

"But he was a youth while I had been an old enough man when I first met you, priestess." Her companion stated calmly. "As I said to you, I do not think I love you in that way, or even desire you physically, but in my own way I want you. Such affections are more safe then most love, and yet more dangerous in the fact that they would remain consistent."

As they reached to the rather lavish chamber he had gave them he removed her arm from his gently and opened the door for her, before he bowed to her once again.

"What I said tonight, I will not repeat again unless you do." He ensured her, causing her to nod in satisfaction, knowing that he would not act irrationally for this impossible cause.

She turned away and was about to enter her chambers when she suddenly turned very pale, and staggered back.

Concerned, Kamiyasu quickly stepped forward to examine what had caused this.

The sight made him almost curse out in disgust and he was truly tempted to summon guards to end this shameful display were it the fact that it would hurt Yuri more.

* * *

He woke up alone, but the note beside him quickly erased any worries. Upon examining the note closer, Hotohori smiled, it seemed that she has subconsciously began to use kanji for every single word now that she was in such a world.

His village had taught him how to read and write, but he had to do many of the learning himself in order to understand the ancient scrolls that contained the legends of Konan. Thus, he had experienced such a thrill when he regained his memories and was able to recollect all these words- almost like the discovering of a lost language.

The knock on the door made him frown. It was in the middle of the night, as the moon still hung on top of the night sky while the court yard was silent saved for the very soft footstep of the ones who happened to be on guard. He could not understand why someone would be knocking on his door.

Unless Yuri wanted to see him and for some strange reason decided to send someone to fetch him instead of coming here herself. Nonetheless he opened the door.

He had not seen the maid before, but something in her lavender eyes made him rather…nervous.3

"Yes?" he asked, a hint of authority creeping into his tone without him being aware of it.

She opened her mouth but tumbled forward instead. Without even thinking, Hotohori placed his arms around her to prevent her from falling down. At this, a malicious smile curled around her lips as she quickly sank her teeth into his flesh, drawing blood in the process.

"So even you will fall into my trap." She whispered suggestively, her hands guiding his hands. "The virtuous Hotohori, the emperor of Konan who loved one woman so much that he denied all of his other concubines even when his empress was barren."

Hotohori wanted to pull his hand off her but found that he no longer had control over his body at all. But the cruellest thing was that he was allowed to be aware of what his body was now doing, but could not do anything to prevent this.

"Wouldn't it be interesting to see what the priestess of Seiryuu would say when she sees you with another woman?" she continued teasing him, now using his hand to slowly pull down part of her dress. "Who am I? You are wondering. My name is Miiru and I am sent by Tenkou, whom you dare to stand against."

There was a lot of things to say, to lash out against her, but just as his hands were unable to move, his mouth might as well have been gagged.4

He wanted to throw her away from him, but found his hands continuing pulling down her dress, making their flesh touch. He could taste no arousal or desire, only disgust was present.

If Yuri were to witness this…he did not know how she would take this at all. He loved her greatly, and she was sure that she knew this, but what woman or man could be rational if they see the one they loved and thought loved them about to perform the making of love with another?

He did not even have time to contemplate the possible answer, as he saw the doors of the chamber being opened…

* * *

The sight of her husband in the arms of another woman was the first thing she saw when she was about to walk in. Raising a hand to her eyes she rubbed it in a rather childish attempt of denying the visions in front of her.

"This can't be true." she whispered as she turned her face away, feeling tears creeping toward her eyes.

"I…" even as she denied it, she fixed her gaze onto her husband once more.

Yuri's appearance seemed to have broken some of the spell Miiru placed, as Hotohori gained enough control over his own body as to shove Miiru away from him, making her fall to the ground. But it might have been her that released her control, as the damage was already down.

"What excuse can you offer?" the emperor of Kutou snarled, standing beside Yuri and tried to place his arms on her shoulder, only to have them slapped away.

His eyes hardened, but it was not her that angered him, it was Hotohori.

"Yuri…" Hotohori began uncertainly, not sure how he should defend himself as he realized that had the same thing happened to Yuri, he would not find this explanation easy to believe.

"Yuri…" he began again, hastily donning on a robe.

"Do not come near her!" Kamiyasu ordered, his hand resting on his sword, despite being slightly crippled and neglecting the art of using a sword, he could still wield his weapon well enough.

Yuri had stepped back until she was out of the chamber. She was clutching at one of the poles outside while her other hand was clenched tightly together. Her whole body seemed to be shaking.

But it was her eyes that hurt him the most. They become such dark pools with depression circling in them along with anger and sadness at what she must viewed as his betrayal.

It was a betrayal although it was not his fault, but it was not her fault either for seeing it as anything other then this. He would have done the same.

"Yuri…" he repeated for the third time.

She said nothing, only turned and run from him. The moment she did so, he saw the first drop of her tears falling.

"Leave my kingdom as soon as you can." Kamiyasu spat out to Hotohori, who remained silent, before he quickly chased after Yuri.

What was the point in explaining anything to anyone apart from Yuri? If she did not understand or believe him, then there was no point in asking pardon from anyone else.

But he would not obey the emperor of Kutou, because he had to make her see what had really happened. He simply could not leave her, and if he must, he would hear it from her own lips.

Not surprisingly, they found her in the temple of Seiryuu once again, what shocked them was her complete lose of rationality and control.

She knelt in the middle of the pool of water that surrounded the statue of Seiryuu, and was beating the statue with her bare fists, occasionally splashing the water due to her violent actions. Her body was shaking due to her emotions and tears were falling in a rather rapid rate, but they were silent, which was more scary.

"Why…why?" she was screaming to the statue of the god she served. Her voice was soft but it was edged with great hysteria. "Why bring me here to do this to my life? Why have him do this to me? If this is what is mean to happen, then I rather to have never returned here!"

Despite the sword that was near him, Hotohori still took a step forward.

Yuri remained oblivious, continuing with her curses and crying as she kept on seeing Hotohori with another woman, what he had promised to never do.

Perhaps she loved him too much, she admitted that, as she was being completely irrational. She was acting like a raving woman when she was meant to be carrying herself with dignity due to her position as the priestess of Seiryuu.

"I can't do it." she whispered.

She loved Hotohori…it was not love at first sight but she had fell in love with him so fast and the love had never left her. She always loved him just as she thought that he would always continue to love her. That was all she wanted and needed.

She did all she did for him…because she wanted him to live. Let him despise her if he must, she had realized as she was about to make her third wish and therefore give up her own body, but she would be happy as long as she knew that he was safe because of her.

And now she saw him in the arms of another woman…all she could feel was pain. Hurting her and mocking her. They taunted her, telling her that she had been a fool to believe that all this would last.

"It is your fate to be alone." Someone whispered to her, laughing maliciously as he did so.

She could not be without Hotohori for the sake that she needed him to be beside her, although she believe that she could live as her mother had- be such a loving mother that her children would never complain of their missing father.

She needed him, but yet at the same time she knew that she could not stay with him if he had slept, or about to sleep with another woman. She would have to leave him, but to do that…

Once more she smashed her fist against the statue, ignoring the fact that her finger had begun to bleed, and the flesh was swelling. She didn't care right now, all she could think about was how happy she had been before she entered this world again.

Someone grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. It was rather rough, but she was at a sense of shock that she would not react to any gentleness.

"Hotohori?" she whispered softly as her blurred version cleared slightly when the tears in her eyes fell down to join the water she was kneeling on.

"I have to explain." He whispered, moving his hands to take her's. He wanted to embrace her, but knew that he could not right now.

"What can you possibly say?" she asked sadly, her words edged with tears. "I saw what you saw, and someone else also saw what I saw."

"I know that you will not believe me as I will not be able to believe me had I seen the same thing but please! Trust me." he implored. "I really love you, you know that I love you."

"I knew." She corrected. "I knew until I saw you in bed with another woman. I would not be so angry if you are still the emperor of Konan, and I am your barren empress because you are doing what thousands of other demand. But we are not in such positions any more!"

Saying so she pushed him away from her with a violence that he was never aware of its existence.

"Leave me alone!" she demanded. "I need time to myself!"

He was meant to land on the hard marble underneath the shallow water, but much to his surprise he felt himself caught by what seemed to be water. Puzzled, he twisted slightly to see what had happened.

Waters in the shape of snake had caught him and prevented him from falling completely.

"Well, I must admit that I am rather shocked to see you and Yuri quarrelling." A male's voice said very gently with no trace of mockery at all.

"Who are you and how did you arrive here?" Kamiyasu demanded, pulling out his sword. He had shut the temple's door and bolted it as he knew that Yuri would not wish to be seen in such a state.

Sitting up, Hotohori was able to have a better look at the man, and as soon as he did so, he felt that there was a sense of strong familiarity in this man.

He was rather tall with very long hair that was the colour of pale gold, with his eye an equally light blue. The strange thing about him was that his right eye was covered by an eye patch.

"You must be…" Hotohori chocked out as his gaze rested on the eye patch, then moved onto the man's clothing: they were what was worn among the normadic tribes of Hokkan.

"I am Hikitsu, and I was more then a little disappointed that I did not get to meet you with the rest of the celestial warriors of Suzaku." The celestial warrior of Genbu said with a slight smile.5

Yuri realized that there was something very similar about the two men, in that there was a hidden sadness that surrounded them.6

"Hikitsu…the celestial warrior of Genbu…" Kamiyasu muttered in disbelieve as he sheathed his sword, there was no point in fighting someone who could not be harmed at all. "But why are you here? Legends say that after you gave the shinzaho to the priestess of Suzaku you were able to go to heaven."

"That is not wrong," Hikitsu continued, "But I have come down from that place to deliver the Shinzaho of Genbu to the priestess of Seiryuu."

Saying so he approached Yuri and actually knelt down so he could look at her at eye level. Hotohori realized that he was looking at her in such a fashion that made it seem that he knew her personally.

What he said…they were rather strange too. He must be aware of the love they have for each other in order to be surprised about what was happening.

Gently, Hikitsu reached out a hand and brushed away the lock of hair that had covered part of her face. Hotohori felt no jealousy at all because his instinct told him that Hikitsu did this act from the position of an elder brother like figure.

"The last time I saw you as who you really are…you were kneeling in front of the statue of Seiryuu, and like last time you are screaming at him for what had happened." The celestial warrior of Genbu said softly, "I always cursed myself for not helping you because I was too worried about her. But I still lost her in the end, to you." At this he turned to look at Hotohori. "Perhaps it is my punishment for loving her too much, that I was doing what you are doing. Loving another more then your priestess."7

The way he spoke was enough to make Yuri halt her hysterical crying because this man…this spirit…this being was addressing her without talking to her. He was seeing someone else in her…who she was, not who she is.

"What had happened?" she whispered before raising her voice to make it a demand. "What had happened?"

"Do you really wish to know?" although he never once changed the tone of his voice, this question made Yuri shiver slightly.

"The truth does hurt." Hikitsu continued. "But it is necessary. We, all of us, repeated our mistakes because we do not remember what had happened before."

Saying so he raise one hand and took his eye patch off, then immediately used his other hand to cover up his right eye.

"Do not think I do this as a way of revenge." He said very firmly. "Very well. Priestess of Seiryuu, you will remember that I had to test the priestess of Suzaku, I must test you out of this same reason. You must proof yourself as the Priestess of Seiryuu, even though," at this point he smiled slightly, the same bitter smile Hotohori used to smile. "I know that you are Seiryuu's chosen one."

"What are you doing to her?" Hotohori and Kamiyasu demanded at the same time. They had to ask this question, because they had no power to prevent the celestial warrior of Genbu to do anything.

"I will make her remember all that which had happened," Hikitsu said grimly as he finally uncovered his right eye. "If she survives then I will give the shinzaho to her."

As soon as she gazed into his right eye, Yuri slumped forward, but she did not fall, as Hikitsu quickly caught her.

"Do not touch her." He stated. "Neither of you will wish to see into her memories."

"Why do you test her like this?" Hotohori demanded angrily. He remembered what he had read from the legends of Genbu and Hikitsu's test was making Yuri recollect memories that were buried, which were the most painful memories. "You did not test Miaka like this, and if you know that she is the priestess then why…"

"Because I do not want the past to repeat itself again!" Hikitsu finally broke into a yell. "But when I watches what is happening I see you and Yuri repeating what you had done!

"I do not want what had happened to happen again." He repeated firmly, although he looked at Yuri with what seemed to be a gentleness mingled with pity. "So I will do this even though I know that Seiryuu does not wish it."

* * *

_Her mother was lying on the hospital bed, her head covered by a headscarf as the treatment against her type of cancer forced her very long hair to all fell off._

_The eight year old Yuri knew that she had to be brave, because that was what her mother told her to do, as well as the reassurance that everything was going to be fine. But for the first time in her life, she did not believe in her mother's words._

_It was hard to believe that her mother would recover when she was growing thinner and thinner every day, and then that day…when all her hair was gone…_

"_You shouldn't cry about such things." Her mother said as she rested her hand over her daughter's head lovingly._

"_But Haha, you love your hair so much!" Yuri whispered, remembering all the times she had seen her mother brushing her hair. She knew that her mother had a simple happiness at these actions because her hair was the part of her body that she loved the best. "And it is such pretty hair too!"_8

"_I don't mind it that much." Her mother assured her. "Beside, your hair is the most beautiful hair I have ever seen. As long as you are beautiful Yuri, which you always will be, then I will not mind what happens to me._

"_Now, let Haha brush your hair again…"_

_She knelt down beside the bed so her mother can brush her hair and tied it that way with a ribbon. It was something that her mother did through out her entire life, but the little girl did not know, that this would be one of the last times her mother would do this…__9_

* * *

"I don't want to see this again." Yuri whispered.

That was the beginning of it all, when her originally very happy life started to become bad, when her happiness was slowly destroyed by a sadness that turned into depression.

She continued walking, either someone was forcing her to walk or that she simply lacked the strength herself to stop. It was as if she was entering a long row of rooms which all contained some part of her past. The rooms were all joined together so that she could not even be free from these memories for a single moment.

She saw herself as the unwanted child in her father's house again, then she witnessed the day when her stepmother forced her to cut her hair. There had been another argument and it ended with her father yanking her by the hair and slicing her hair off by force due to a kitchen knife.

"We must all compromise." He had said stiffly in order to conceal his guilt as he watched how the young girl knelt down to gather her shorn off hair.10

She resumed her walking, unaware that tears were streaking down her face until she tasted something salty with her mouth. She placed her fingers over her eyes briefly, then quickly removed them.

There was no point in wiping them away as more would follow.

"I am scared to go on, at least when I am by myself." She admitted to herself, pausing before she opened the next door.

Ironically, and even cruelly, the next memory was what she just saw: where Hotohori was tangled in the arms of another woman. The act of betray was replaying in front of her once again.

This was simply too much for her.

She sank onto the floor once again and closed her eyes, what would happen if she just remained here and ignore everything? Would she be able to remain inside her own heart forever? In a way she wanted to, perhaps she could find some form of peace here by denying her other memories.

"I am not a brave person." She whispered as she lifted her head up to stare at the door that would take her back, then turned back to look at the door that would make her remember more.

Strangely, there were now two doors. Without even standing up, she could see some of the images behind them.

Behind the first door was an image of her in the robe of the priestess of Seiryuu, what she was wearing now, with the shinzaho of Seiryuu twisted with her hair. But the difference was that one hand held a mirror, while the other clinched around a ring and the chain of a necklace.

Without being told, Yuri knew that the image there was what had happened in the past. If she entered then she would discover the whole truth, but she was beginning to doubt her ability of facing it.

Especially if she had committed what might be a crime.

The other door showed the image of a beckoning hand that was clawed and covered with scales.

"Will I be able to summon you even if I refuse to see what had happened?" she questioned.

Seiryuu continued beckoning to her, and for this reason she believed that she would not be condemned if she went to him now. She did not want to know her past at this moment, she was simply too afraid, and most of fall: she did not want to face what had happened if Hotohori would not be there to help her.

Closing her eyes again, she reached out to grasp that beckoning hand.

* * *

Even though Yuri's mind was in turmoil, her body remained very still. Hikitsu was still holding onto her, but he was beginning to question his own actions; Hotohori was kneeling right beside her, his hand clenched to prevent himself from reaching out to her; while Kamiyasu was watching this in a state of confusion and shock.

Yuri moved slightly, and Hikitsu frowned, there was something strange about her. Technically, he was dead and so he should not be affected by her living form although he was allowed to be able to touch her. For the first time since he held her, he could feel a weight.

Without warning her hand shot out and grabbed him by the throat tightly, what should be an impossible thing. Hikitsu had to force himself to look at her instead of closing his eye due to the pain made by her hand, a feeling that he had been denied of since the day he died more then two centuries ago.

Her eyes was different…they had become blue and the pupil and iris has shifted in size. They were no longer the eyes of a human woman, but that of a dragon.11

Lowering his eyes with great pain, he confirmed his believe when he saw that her hands were covered with blue scales.

"Seiryuu…" the celestial warrior of Genbu whispered, here was a being that had the power to do something to him.

"You are brave, Hikitsu, to do something that you know I did not want." Even though Seiryuu was using Yuri's body, he was actually speaking with his own voice. "You would show her what had happened? She almost would have remembered what had happened before on that day."

"Would you have the past repeating itself again?" Hikitsu demanded. "Yuri and Hotohori had both played a part in Tenkou breaking free from his chains by simply loving each other."

"Tenkou will be stopped." Seiryuu stated simply. "And this time he will be destroyed."

Hikitsu was going to speak again when the god suddenly released his hold to drop him down into the pile of water.

"My time here is limited," he said grimly, "Tenkou would soon come if I do not leave. But there is one thing I must do, for my priestess."

Gesturing the door he let out a ray of light that shattered the bolt completely, forcing the double door to be thrown open. This revealed the eavesdropper: Miiru.

The seemingly innocent woman blushed modestly and was going to begin her excuse when Seiryuu shifted Yuri's hand to point to her. A blue light engulfed her and within seconds she was screaming.

"Minion of Tenkou, show your true self." Seiryuu commanded.

Miiru spat on the ground as a reply, but much to her horror her body was beginning to shift back into that disgusting being she had become just for loving her brother too much. What happened to her body was rather ironic as it was what she had done too many others, with Hotohori as the latest victim.

Inside her own body, Yuri gasped as she saw what the maid whom Hotohori had been with shift into a…a monster!

"That is what she really is," Seiryuu explained. "She is one of Tenkou's minions and no doubt she was sent to do what she did in order to break you."

"Why did Hotohori…" she began.

"She controlled him somehow. Do not blame him for what he had done, it was truly not his fault." Seiryuu reassured her. "I would destroy her but I must go now." Saying to he simply left, while Miiru snarled at them before she too, departed.

Standing up Yuri turned to her husband, who was still looking at her so tenderly even though she had refused to trust him. With her hands shaking slightly, she stretched it out to him.

Smiling for the first time since he woke up with her gone, Hotohori pulled his wife into a loving embrace.

"You were not to be blamed anymore then I am." He said gently as she began to whisper her apologies. "I doubt that I could act any better. I would probably have pulled out my sword and demanded the other to fight me." he added light heartedly.

"But I…" Yuri began.

"It was not your fault." He repeated.

"I did realize one thing." She whispered. "Despite all that I still loved you. In fact, I was so angry because I love you."

"We will manage." He promised.

Watching them, Hikitsu had to smile. After all that they had caused he shouldn't be so happy but he could not help it, Hotohori had been his dear friend while he was starting to regard Yuri as a younger sister: he had wanted her to be happy.

"I will believe that we have all learned from our mistakes." He decided as he moved to stand before the two embracing couple and hung the shinzaho of Genbu around Yuri's neck.

"This will be in your keeping until the priestess of Genbu come for it." he declared out. "Yuri, remember one thing. No matter what happens you have a duty as the priestess of Seiryuu. Right now, that duty is to summon Seiryuu and then Genbu in order to destroy Tenkou. Let no grief upset you so much that you will turn away from this goal."

After his depart, Kamiyasu knelt down in the water beside them. He smiled sadly as he realized that no matter what, the one person he desired would never be his. After what Hotohori had done, he did thought about offering his proposal to Yuri once more as he believed that she might choose to stay here.

"I am sorry," he said to Hotohori, "but if even Yuri blames you then I cannot be condemned that much."

"I understand." The man whom could be regarded as some type of rival said with a brief nod, then released Yuri's in order to let the emperor of Kutou say good bye to her.

"Yuri…" Kamiyasu began as he took her hands in his, then raised it to his lips. "I…I hope you will always have happiness."

There was really nothing more to be said other then that. He knew that now she had the shinzaho of Genbu as well as the shinzaho of Seiryuu she would want to leave in order to search for the rest of their companions, and they had found nothing useful in regard to help her with summoning the deities either.

"Am I leaving?" Yuri asked.

"I know you and Hotohori both want to go to Konan. Now is a very good time." he said.

Yuri nodded as he guessed all that she and Hotohori had thought of. They did have to find Miaka and the rest of the Suzaku warriors, and also, Hotohori wanted to go to Konan because that was his home.

"I will leave soon then." Yuri decided before she withdrew her hands away from this man who loved her in his own strange way. "Kamiyasu…may you find happiness too."

"I will find it as long as my kingdom is safe."

At this Yuri nodded again.

"I promise to try and not let my emotions affect me. This time, I will save Kutou not just because of Hotohori."

* * *

1 It is not the same type of love as what Hotohori feel for Yuri, I think it is kind of more of a really idealistical idolization. It is a bit like what Hotohori feel for Miaka (original story) but not the same as that either. It is simply a strong affection different from love…kind of hard to explain. What he feel toward her is rather platonic as well, it's simply the desire of having her beside him.

2 I don't want Yuri's character to be portrayed as the wrong way, by taking his hand she is simply accepting his devotion to her as well as telling him that she will only ever accept his devotion because she is in love with Hotohori, and will remain in love with her.

3 I am not fully sure if that is the right colour of Miiru's eyes but I looked at the back of the cover for volume 16 and it showed her with purple/lavender eyes. By the way I noticed that the cover for the Chinese version and English version are different…

4 This is basically what happened with Tamahome and Miiru in the original story, as well as Miaka and Rin. They basically gained some sort of control over their victim's body, and note that in my story Miiru took some blood from Hotohori- which will be used in the later part of the fan fiction!

5 The thing about Hikitsu is that his appearance is a bit of a contradiction at some point. In fushigi yuri- he appeared with chest length hair that is the colour of silverish blond, kind of silvery but in Genbu Kaiden his hair- although it remained the same length- become a very pale blond. Then we have the genbu kaiden game, where his hair is the same pale blond but is now waist length. Me, I personally like the way he is drawn in the Genbu Kaiden game best- where he has very long hair the colour of pale gold. Because of that, I will describe Hikitsu in my story as he appears in the game, very long pale blond hair.

6 Hikitsu is my favourite character in Genbu Kaiden (Advertisement: I'm going to be doing a fan fiction on Genbu Kaiden as soon as I finish this and it will be a HikitsuxOC pairing.) But anyway, I really feel that Hikitsu is so much like Hotohori, they both have this really sad expression on their face that is caused by what they suffered in life. I really think that these two are the most beautiful drawn characters I have ever seen.

7 I know that Hikitsu is talking weirdly but this is all related to my prologue, so hopefully you will find out what he means.

8 I can kind of relate to this as I used to have really really long hair (up to my waist) and you do get a bit flattered when pretty compliment it. Silly I know but it is the truth.

9 Don't know why but I just wanted to do this bit. Well, a flash back. So that's how Yuri's mother died, due to cancer. This bit is also symbolic for Yuri.

10 Yuri is vain about her hair not just because she like it, but it is mainly because by having her hair long it remind her of her mother, who had very long hair as well.

11 I don't exactly remember what colour Sieryuu's eyes are, so I am just going to say that it is blue since is a blue dragon. Although that word is more like aqua but I don't like that colour as my intermediate uniform was this aqua colour and it is really ugly but ok, off the topic.

* * *

_Author's Note: Finished! This chapter turned out to only be Yuri and Hotohori, although I did wander at one point whether I would include the others. There was also a time when I thought about doing a flash back for Yuri, she was suppose to see more of her past- her life with her father's family; when she was the empress and was asked to persuade Hotohori to elect another concubine- the vase throwing incident as some of you might remember; and once more about how she choose to be the priestess of Seiryuu. But I decided against this as I think I twill get too repeative. This chapter is still more about Yuri, while next one should be more Hotohori focused and we see the second part of Miiru's attack. For those who had read the original story can probably work out what will happen._

_What else, this story is more long and I blame this due to my bad planning and my bad habig of dragging even the unnecessary bit out. But anyway, I think there are only a few chapters left. So it should get done. I want to get it done in December because I have to start university in January, summer school, although I do get a break somewhere before semester one start but cause summer school is going to be so packed I don't want this to distract me._

_And I guess my prologue idea is still being used, so I will hae to type the prologue story/fan fiction up although I am worried that it will be bad. It get ooc for some characters but then that is because it is like their past lives. Anyway…I am blabbing but as always I promise that my story will be happy._


	8. Chapter Seven

One month had passed since the return of the Suzaku Warriors and their priestess, and Kotsuki was still trying in vain to find some clue about his elder brother and his sister in law.

Much has happened, the most important thing being that the other four out of the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku had all gained both the memories of their past life, as well as the stone.1

Hotohori was still missing along with Yuri, although both Chichiri and Mitsukake strongly believed that the two of them would be in Kutou.

Ryoen was the only one who still did not remember, Nuriko was the only one absent.

"I hate this." Ryoen muttered again. "Being useless because I don't remember about being Nuriko at all."

He was sitting with the emperor in Kotsuki's private library, what was once his brother's, with Mitsukake and Chiriko at the other end of the room, both absorbed in the book or scroll that they held. The two young men who were talking had become very intimate friends due to their link through Seishuku/Hotohori.

Miaka, Tamahome, Taisuki and Chichiri had left to go to Sairou, to gain the Shinzaho of Byakko, while Chiriko and Mitsukake decided to stay in the palace with Ryoen. They claimed that it was because they would not be that useful to everyone due to the nature of their powers, but Ryoen knew that they did it for his sake.

It had been a week since the others left and Ryoen had to admit, if it wasn't for Mitsukake and Chiriko then he would have ended up being mad by now. To let everyone go and be in danger…even though Chichiri had reassured him many times that their travelling this time should not be dangerous at all.

But what worried him the most, was Seishuku…Hotohori. It was not just worrying about his brother being in danger, he was also deeply concerned that Seishuku might not wish to be acknowledged as his brother now that he has returned to the world where he had been Hotohori.

The story about how he once competed with Yuri for Hotohori's affection did not help him at all.

Strange enough, he actually wanted to see Yuri as Nuriko had, because even though Nuriko had been jealous of her, he seemed to have accepted the end of his impossible dream with good grace. Ryoen idolised his brother, so there were times when he was so angry with himself for not approving of his brother's marriage through his own jealousies.

"Would you really feel useful if you become Nuriko again?" Kotsuki asked softly, when he was in the company of those who trusts, his voice would drop to the quiet whisper that he used most of the time before he became the emperor. "Being powerful but unable to do what you truly want is worse then just being simply hopeless."

"Is that what you feel?" Ryoen asked.

The young emperor shook his head. "I think that is what my brother felt, to be the emperor as well as a celestial warrior of Suzaku, but is yet unable to…"

Whatever he wanted to say next was halted by the knock on the door. Sighing, the young man draped his elaborate royal robe over the rather simple clothing he had changed into, and raised his voice as he gave permission for the messenger to enter.

It was Chinatsu who had three people beside her, two of them were covered with a rather thick cloak that draped over their whole body, concealing their faces.

The uncloaked person was not a stranger to the palace. He was Rokou, the brother of Nuriko. By chance, Mitsukake and Ryoen had met him when the two of them went to the market. From that day on, Rokou would be a constant visitor in the palace with the goal of making his younger brother remembering him.

Ryoen did not know how he should feel with this man who was his brother when he had been Nuriko. He was very soft spoken and there was a sense of fragility around him, Ryoen felt that he had to be very careful in dealing with him, as he almost shattered when Ryoen failed to recognize him.

"Are…are you that ashamed of me?" the younger man had whispered brokenly.

He was not the same as Seishuku. This was not to say that Seishuku was not a gentle or a quiet man, but Ryoen could recollect many occasions when his brother had been a protective elder brother. Something that Rokou seemed to lack.

"These two are messengers from Kutou." Chinatsu announced, keeping her eyes on the hem of her skirt instead of facing the emperor, "Or so the guards say."

"Perhaps they bring news of Hotohori-sama." Mitsukake said sadly.

"Hotohori-sama?" the suffix was almost spat out by the very familiar voice. "You, Ju-An, are one of my two best friends! Why is it that you refer to me that way just because you regained your memories of our past lives? Are you saying that all our friendships are gone just because of different statuses in the past?"

Angrily, Hotohori yanked the hood of his cloak off to reveal himself, as well as the dark blue clothes that he had on. It looked rather odd on him, as he did not usually wear such colours, even in his life as Seishuku. But in a strange way it was rather fitting.

Beside him, Yuri gently laid her arm over his, understanding the pain and sadness that he felt just by returning to the palace where he had been both prisoner and ruler: the emperor, the most powerful man, but also the weakest man, because he could not do what he truly desires.

Like Hotohori she wore the cloak as a disguise, as neither of them wanted to be recognized on the streets. Although in her case, it would be her clothing that betrays her instead of her appearance.

Yuri had put on the robe of the priestess of Seiryuu, and even wore the headdress in her hair. She could not explain why but she felt that it was appropriate for her to dress this way, even though she was leaving Kutou for the country guarded by Suzaku.

The kingdom that was once Hotohori's.

Upon seeing the woman whom she had served as a mistress, and whom she loved in the way of the perfect elder sister, Chinatsu immediately knelt down in front of Yuri, as she had done many times.

"Chinatsu…" at the sight of the girl Yuri quickly bend down so she could look at the girl on eye level, knowing the girl she would remain kneeling down for quite some times, even if Yuri told her to get up.

"Mistress…you returned to Konan." Chinatsu whispered in wonder, now holding the end of Yuri's gown.

"Not as the empress, only as the priestess of Seiryuu." Yuri said softly. "So I am no longer you mistress."

Chinatsu only shook her head and continued to hold onto the fabric even more tightly. "You will always be my mistress, it started ever since the day you saved Chiharu and I from our fate of being the emperor's unwanted concubines."

"A fact I wish to forget." Kotsuki muttered darkly. There had been something almost magical the moment he saw Chinatsu with her twin sister, who he thought to be only the late empress' maids.

Then he learnt of her true position: a woman that might not be regarded as a worthy bride for him because technically, she had had been another man's property.

"You…you…it is not as if you even tried to marry me!" Chinatsu whispered sadly. "You…you…" tears appeared in her eyes and she turned to Yuri, to be pulled into a loving embrace.

At this moment Yuri marvelled at the change in Chinatsu, no doubt she also reflected Chiharu's changes. When she left the two of them were only fourteen, two young girls instead of two women.

Chinatsu was eighteen now, the age when she had married Hotohori. The maid that she treasured as a much younger sister seemed to have become a full grown woman now, certainly no longer a little girl as she was in love.

"I…" Kotsuki began but stopped, there was no point in denying the truth.

"Your majesty," Chinatsu said, facing Yuri. "Will you come to see Chiharu and her husband with me if you can? She married one of the emperor's officials a year ago."

Yuri nodded, "But first," she whispered as she gently loosened Chinatsu's hold to stand next to Hotohori once more. "First…"

* * *

The two brothers faced one another, both staring into the other's face to find some betrayal of acknowledgement. For Hotohori, that meeting they had when he just became the emperor, was one of the only two proper meetings he had of this younger half brother.

As for Kotsuki, he had seen his brother many times when Saihitei paraded around the town, as well as being rather familiar with his brother's appearance at the time of Suzaku's summoning due to the paintings in the temple. But Hotohori was still a stranger to him as much as Kotsuki must be to him.

Even though both harboured hope of seeing the other, they were silent as they simply did not know what to say at all.

"I…" Hotohori finally began awkwardly. "I…I am glad to see you…Kotsuki…through my journey here I heard that you are a very good emperor. The emperor of Kutou himself told me that you are a good ruler."

"Not as good as you." Kotsuki replied in equal uneasiness. Even though he was draped in the elaborate robes befitted of an emperor, while his elder brother was dressed in simple clothes that peasants would wear, he still felt as if he was the subject, while Hotohori was the emperor once again.

"That much be…Houkigou." He stated the obvious. "I have always wanted to meet her, she is your wife in your new life as well?"

Hotohori nodded, and once more a silence elapsed, Mitsukake and Chiriko were both edging towards the door, wanting to escape from this rather awkward family reunion.

"I…I wanted to meet you too." Kotsuki burst out, after Hotohori finally let out a sigh. "I…I…oniisan…"

Hotohori's face darkened so much at this address that Kotsuki wondered whether the other wished to be acknowledged as his brother at all.

"Oniisan is it?" Hotohori finally said very sadly, bending his head down so that his loose hair covered up his face. "I cannot blame you though, I should just be grateful that you are actually willing to admit that I am your brother."2

"Oniisan?" Kotsuki repeated again.

Hotohori turned to Ryoen, and the younger boy immediately went up to hug him tightly, for a moment Hotohori looked rather blank, but he quickly smiled rather sadly with the appearance of realization, and he quickly returned the hug.

"Ryoen, it is good to see you again." he said softly.

"Aniki, how do you know that I am Ryoen, not Nuriko?" his younger brother asked curiously. "Is it that obvious, the difference?"

Hotohori shook his head sadly as he said: "Nuriko would no longer call me aniki. Very likely he would call me Hotohori-sama too."

"But that is ridiculous!" Ryoen yelled out. "You are my aniki, and you always would be…" but his voiced trailed off as he noticed the look of deep betrayal and sadness on Rokou's face.

"So that is it, isn't it." he whispered brokenly, his hands were even shaking slightly as he raised it to point at Hotohori, so great was his shock that he didn't even consider what he was doing, as he was treating the man who was his last emperor in a rather rude fashion. "I have to be like that man in order for you to acknowledge me as your aniki."

This was not completely untrue, as Ryoen had compared his 'two brothers' and decided that he preferred Seishuku as a brother instead of Rokou. But his main reason for not calling Rokou aniki at all, even though he knew that this stranger was really Nuriko's brother, was because he had no memory of the other being his brother.

Hotohori turned to his other brother, and began to speak again. The room was occupied by an very awkward silence: Mitsukake and Chiriko were still near the door, as even though they wanted to escape, they felt that they should be there to support their friends; due to Rokou's outburst Ryoen was even more confused, while Rokou was beginning to feel a bit embarrassed for what happened; Chinatsu had knelt by Yuri's feet once more; and Yuri would have stopped her had she not been too occupied with her husband.

"I think that Kotsuki…" Hotohori suddenly paused in the middle of his speech and repeated the name of his half brother again. "Kotsuki…should I be calling you that? Do you wish for me to call you by your title?"

"No!" the current emperor of Konan almost cried out in horror at the suggestion, and his gaze wandered to Chinatsu, who immediately bent her head down. "You would know what it feels like to be regarded as an object instead of a person just because of our role as the emperor."

Hotohori nodded, "Very well, Kotsuki then. There is a favour that I would ask of you."

"A favour?"

"Yes, there is something that I must do now that I am here in the palace, and seeing you after all these years.

"I must ask for your forgiveness."

"Forgiveness? Oniisan, I know now that what happened ten years ago was not your fault."

Hotohori suddenly chocked as he looked at his brother, the expression on his younger brother's face was just like Hikitsu's. It was an acceptance of some sort of crime that he had done to them.

But he would not let that distract him right now, he shook his head sadly as he whispered: "That is not the sin that I am talking about, although I do apologise for what happened after that walk in the garden. I truly didn't mean any of it, as I had really wanted you to be my brother, a companion, a friend. I was so happy when I saw you entering the palace, I really thought…"

"Did you think that I was an assassin when you saw the dagger in my gift?"

"I do not know." Hotohori admitted bitterly. "Perhaps I did but Kotsuki, no doubt you found me as much to blame as my mother at that time. After all, out family was not a family at all."3

His younger brother could only nod in agreement. A father who never cared for any of his many children, while the mothers of his children spend a majority of their life squabbling for power. They all claimed that it was for their child, but both Hotohori and Kotsuki felt that it was for themselves more.

All the emperor's children were puppets to their mother. Mostly notably was naturally Hotohori, who actually succeeded in being the emperor, although he was a very fair ruler who was well loved and praised by his people, it was a role that he always wished to be free from.

But the very early years of Saihitei's reign of rules were stained by his mother's actions. In order to keep her younger son on the throne, she had crushed any sign of danger with cruelty, even ordering the execution of her other son.

Hotohori could remember little of Tendo, the brother whom he shared both father and mother with. Maybe Tendo had believed that he would have been the next emperor, after all, he was the eldest son of the emperor and empress. He used to spend many of his time thinking about policies that he thinks should be applied.

Unlike the future emperor of Konan, he actually started to prepare himself for the role of emperor. He might have been a good emperor too, as he did cared for his people very much, despite some of the radical ideas he had that might not have worked so well.

He certainly wanted the role enough to rebel against his own mother and his only full blooded brother.

Bogyoku, the emperor's eldest son. He never spared any chances of glaring at Hotohori or Tendo in anger if he could. Unlike his younger brother, he resented his birth for being born from a concubine instead of being a son of the empress. Perhaps he would not have felt so bad if he wasn't the eldest son of the emperor. He worked with his mother's plan eagerly, as he wanted to be the next emperor to prove that he could, to show the empress that despite not being her son, he would still take the throne of his father.

Then there was Ogi and Kotsuki, the younger brothers of Hotohori, who were not considered as candidates in this game for power, but were certainly players. The studious and intelligent Ogi was seen as a danger by the empress, whose assassination attempt ended up killing the mother of the young boy…who was not even a man yet. This caused him to become one of Tendo's helpers, and he willingly died for Tendo, as he believed that this half brother could avenge his mother for him.

The universe of the four gods was like ancient china in many ways, even the status of the two sexes. Most times, women were disadvantaged, but in this battle, being a female helped the emperor's only two daughters greatly.4

Had they been two extra sons instead of being two daughters, then their life span might have been much shorter, even though they would not have been considered as candidates for the throne even if they were boys as they belonged to the younger lot of the emperor's children. The two girls were both younger then Hotohori, who was the third oldest in this dysfunctional family.

The elder daughter of the emperor was only a year younger then the brother that became the emperor immediately after their father's death, but she was wise enough to know, along with her mother, she had no claim to the throne at all, but she was still in danger for the mere sake of being the emperor's child.

That was why her mother begged the empress to let her return to her origins, having been a rural farmer's daughter who lived at the border of Konan and Kutou. She even engaged her daughter to one of the peasants there, knowing that this would allow them to survive as the future emperor of Konan could never have a father who was not of royal blood, even if his mother was directly descended from the emperor.5

She actually ended up being in love with the person she was engaged to when the empress died, even though no one in the village had believed that they would actually get married, the boy's family agreed to a fake engagement for the sake of helping the imperial concubine who was once a part of their village. Eventually, she married this man and lived in happiness until the day when soldiers from Kutou attacked their village.

Luckily, she was only killed, instead of raped. But it almost seemed the each and every one of the imperial family was cursed.

Hotohori's other sister, however, was not so lucky. Her mother was much more ambitious and was deeply disappointed to only have given birth to a daughter from the brief amount of time the emperor had given her some attention.

She began to work with most of the emperor's advisors by the bribery of her body, trying to find a way to let her daughter be engaged to a man who could give her great power. Ironically, it was Hotohori's father who ordered their execution when she began to become involved in a plot.

Her daughter was no more then a child when she was killed.

But what haunted Hotohori the most was the death of Bogyoku- the eldest son of the third emperor of Konan, because he was witness to his death.

* * *

Hotohori's request was to be lead to one of the rather isolated part of the palace that few people knew about. He cloaked himself once again as he followed his half brother as if he was only a mere servant, but Kotsuki felt that such a thing was impossible.

His elder brother had demanded to be taken to that place alone, he even told his wife, Houkigou…Yuri, that he must do this by himself although he greatly wished that she could be beside him.

"That would make it easier but yet I must do this alone." Hotohori had whispered.

"Is this it?" Kotsuki asked when his brother paused in front of a door. Reaching to the handle, he was deeply surprised when he discovered that the door wasn't locked at all, unlike most of the rooms in the palace.

"What is this point of locking a room such as this?" his brother said rather bitterly as he entered.

The room seemed empty, there was no furniture or any other indication of once having a human lived there, other then a lonely chair at one corner. It seemed that only spiders and mice live here, as this part of the corridor was rarely visited by any servants to clean.

"I was sitting there," Hotohori whispered, pointing to the chair as he walked to the centre of the room and knelt down, clasping his hands together tightly as he bowed his head down, his hair almost covering his face, but not enough to conceal the sadness in his eyes from his younger brother. "Haha was behind me. Then…"

"Then?"

"Then they brought them in, your haha and aniki. It was in this room where it had happened…"

"Their…execution?" Kotsuki was not found of his mother or his full blood brother because it was hard to love someone whom he never knew and who only saw him as a tool or something that was just there. But it was still quite hard to learn or hear about their death.

Hotohori nodded. "Here in this room…"

He was not even fifteen when his mother brought him to this room to witness the execution of his eldest brother, and the women that had bore him.

"You must see, Hotohori, how I will protect you by punishing anyone that dares to hurt you." She had told him, towering over him with her hands on his shoulder.

"But haha…surely execution is…"

"Hotohori, they have dared to harm you and for that alone they deserve the worse possible death." he did not knew that she actually ordered these two to be actively tortured until later on.

"So just nod when the guard ask you the question, and ignore the two traitors completely." She crouched down to face her seated son, her gaze was so powerful and so intense that the emperor, who was but a boy, could only nod.

Satisfied, she moved to stand behind him, her hands gripping his shoulders tightly.

"They pleaded to me, your Haha and aniki." Hotohori continued. "Do not think less of them, because only a fool would not wish for life." At this he smiled bitterly. "In a way Yuri and I…in a way the two of us are fools as we would have gladly died in order to let the other live."6

"I do not see you as being a fool either…aniki."

"Aniki?" Hotohori repeated this word softly and tilted his head up to face his younger brother. "Aniki?"

"You are my aniki, he was just my oniisan." Kotsuki declared out firmly. "Bogyoku was my brother because we shared the same parents, but you are my brother because you want to be my brother. Therefore, you are my aniki."

He expected his elder brother to smile, but Hotohori only frowned even more.

"I had caused him and your haha to die, Kotsuki." The elder man said darkly. "If I had wanted to then I could have saved them but…"

Kotsuki realized that Hotohori was guilty not because he let his mother and brother die, but because he did not prevent them from being killed by offering any form of resistance toward the empress' orders. It was not what he did, but what he might have done.

On that day Hotohori had heard their pleas and he was moved, but the firm grip on his shoulders prevented him from consenting to their pleas. Instead, he just watched the execution being performed. His return to Konan made him realize that he never forgave himself for this act which he labelled as great cowardliness.

Smiling, Kotsuki walked up to kneel in front of his brother so that they were at eye level.

"Aniki, I do not blame you for what happened that day just as I no longer blame you for what happened to me when you first became the emperor. It is not anyone's fault to be tricked and manipulate by their mother. I myself, am the same.

"As for my mother and my other brother's death…I do not feel happiness at this because after all, they are related to me through blood, and I am sad because lives had been taken by force. But I do not grief that much because who do I mourn for a brother who was not even like a brother? While my mother was only my mother because she gave birth to me?"

For the first time since he arrived in Konan, Hotohori smiled sincerely. "Then I am glad."

Together the two of them walked back to join the rest, happy because they had finally made peace with each other even though neither of them could be said to be in the wrong.

Looking at Hotohori, who was actually smiling, Kotsuki suddenly felt as he did in the garden all these years ago: that here was someone who would help him and listen to him without blaming him for being weak or for being troublesome, as his mother and full blood brother had often done.

"Aniki, even though I am the emperor, I feel as if I am your subject just by standing next to you." He admitted. "This is because I am only the people's current ruler, while you are their eternal ideal. My advisors often compare me to you, especially those who had served you when you were the emperor."

"And the irony is that I gained that by abandoning my duty. When I was living as Saihitei, these same advisors often criticized me."

"But why?" Kotsuki found himself so drawn to these words, that he even forgets about the speaker's identity and relationship to him. He felt as if he was a child discovering a new twist in his favourite story. "They always say that you rule the kingdom…

"Kotsuki, do you know what the main duties of the emperor are?" Hotohori was affected as well, it was as if he was in the village of Konan again, with his brother begging for a bedtime story, which would sometimes happen. This was the family that he had always wanted. "It is to rule his kingdom the best as he could, yes, but it is also to provide an heir for his people as a means of security.7

"I married at the right age, but I never provided the kingdom with an heir. Yuri seemed to be barren and when such a thing happens I should elect another concubine. But I love Yuri so much that I could not do such thing, even if that meant putting my kingdom in a slight danger."

"I must produce an heir then as all our other brothers are dead." Kotsuki decided without much enthusiasm. "But I…It is ironic, aniki. The one woman I love perhaps in the same way as you love Yuri, is one of the women I cannot marry."

"One of the women you cannot marry?"

"Her name is Chinatsu, do you recognize that name?"

At this name Hotohori nodded. He did not remember any other of his concubines other then these two twins who were elected even though they were only twelve, because they were Yuri's maids and his beloved had love them like her own sisters.

Nonetheless both she and her sister had been his concubines, and so they were almost his property for that time. Of course, when the emperor died then all the concubines were free to leave the palace if they wish, although some stayed as they had nowhere else to go. Many concubines actually married very easily as their stay in the palace made them very desirable wives- provided that they were not too old.8

However the mother of the future emperor was demanded to be a virgin, even in name as well.

"It might not be an impossible thing, Kotsuki." Hotohori offered kindly. "After all, everyone knew that I only love the one I chose to be my empress and took no interest in any other concubine."

"I really do love Chinatsu but I…I have been afraid." Kotsuki admitted. "She thinks that I don't love her enough to try and marry her but the truth is, I love her too much that I rather her think that I don't want to marry her instead of I might not be able to marry her."

"Because you hope that by letting her think that she might end up loving another. It is selfish, like my desire of letting Yuri live by dying."

"Then what should I do?"

For the first time Hotohori put his arms around his brother to pull him into a hug.

"You don't need me to tell you when you already have the answer."

_

* * *

_

Yuri was pleased to be able to meet Chiharu once again. Her other maid was now married to one of Kotsuki's officials: an intelligent young man who became one of the officials only a year ago.

He was considered as one of the rising stars of court, and as a result, he had been privileged enough to be allowed to live in the palace for most of the time, although he still had his home to return too. He had been the son of a rather successful merchant, so he could expect a comfortable surrounding if he ever leaves the palace.

Chiharu was naturally very happy with this arrangement, as this meant that she could see her beloved twin whenever she could, as well as having the opportunity of being free from the rules of the palace, which could be rather strangling at times.9

Today, she had said goodbye to her husband, and was starting to prepare herself for finding her twin sister in order to learn about what the celestial warriors plan to do today, as she was like Chinatsu- they were both very eager with the hope of seeing the empress they had served.

Unlike her twin, the cut of her clothes were finer, as she was the wife of one of the emperor's official. But the similar thing about the two twins was that they both used very elaborate decorations to dress their hair: the last things Yuri had gave them.

She was arranging her hair when she noticed the red ribbon in the half opened drawer- her mistress had been so fond of tying her hair with a single red ribbon.

"Chinatsu…" she began to greet her sister only to suddenly pause as she saw the figure that followed Chinatsu in the mirror.

Half of her hair fell down along with numerous hair pins as Chiharu stood up from her seat very abruptly to kneel in front of Yuri.

At this Yuri almost laughed, she had almost forgotten about all these rules in this world. She now recollected how everyone would bow to her as soon as Hotohori announced that they would be married in one week's time.

"I never stopped wishing that I could see you again…mistress." Chiharu whispered even though she was crying, while her tears made her sister began to cry again.

"I miss you two too." Yuri whispered, returning their embraces tightly. "Not because you two were my maids and served me…but because I loved you two as my younger sisters."

"What of your half-sister? The priestess of Suzaku?" one of them asked curiously.

Yuri's face darkened as she began to explain what had happened, and much to her surprise, the two of them understood her perfectly and assured her that she was not wrong at all.

"Like Kotsuki and his other brothers." Chinatsu summarized the situation perfectly. "You do not become siblings just by sharing a parent."

The three of them spend a very long time about all that had happened, the two younger girls embracing Yuri in happiness as she told them about her two children, while Yuri in turn, offered congratulations about Chiharu's husband and tried to comfort Chinatsu.

The knock on the door made them frowned, as none of them wished to be disturbed at all.

"Who is it?" Chiharu commanded, as this was her husband's private chamber after all.

"It is I, Hotohori. I heard that Yuri is here."

At her husband's voice, Yuri quickly got up to open the door for him, hoping that he would not be very upset due to the talk he had with his younger brother. No doubt it was some painful part of his past.

"Hotohori…" Yuri began but she immediately stopped at the sight of the man who stood behind Hotohori.

The emperor.

She was wondering whether she should kneel down when the emperor bowed to her instead.

"You are the priestess of Seiryuu, and you are my brother's wife, therefore it is I who must pay respect to you." Kotsuki said softly, before he turned to the two kneeling figures behind Yuri. "Chinatsu…I wish…I wish to announce my desire of making you into my empress before my council. If that is not disagreeable to you…then I would like you to come with me now."

The object of his affection only bent her head even more down, and her voice was shaking, he suspected that it was due to tears.

"You majesty…I was the concubine of your brother so therefore…"

"But everyone knows that the only woman my brother ever…" at this the young emperor was actually blushing slightly. "Well, it is not an uncommon knowledge that with the exception of Houkigou, he touched no woman at all."

"If your advisors consent, then you would marry me?"

"You know that I want to marry you." At the shock of her head he sighed, and began to explain.

As he finished speaking, Kotsuki half knelt down to embrace the woman he loved. She was openly crying by this time, and her body continued shaking even though the man who she loved was holding her against him, something she had dreamt of for so long.

"I believe they would let me, because after all, no one could make my brother elect another concubine, so I think my radical actions might not be frowned upon so much. Most of all," he stated firmly, "I don't want what happened to you to happen to other girls. Being selected to be the possible wife of a man who does not want you at all.

"I am not blaming you in anyway, aniki, because I know why you had to bow down to tradition, for the same reason I was prepared to. But the difference is that I already have someone who I want to marry."

"That is all I want." Chinatsu whispered. "I can be happy as long as I know that you want to marry me."

"You will come with me then?" at her nod Kotsuki gently took her hand into his, and then turned to Chiharu, "Will you accompany us as a witness?"

Hotohori smiled as he and Yuri watched Kotsuki depart with the two girls that had once been her maids. Chinatsu was still holding onto Kotsuki's hand tightly, while Chiharu placed an arm reassuringly on her twin's spare hand.

"I think they will let him marry her." Hotohori told Yuri as he slipped his arm around her waist. "In time of peace…it is easy to break rules. Although…" he added this as an afterthought as they began to walk to the library, where they believed the others were. "That is often why peace gets replaced by war."

"But you believe that Chinatsu will be allowed to become the empress?"

Hotohori nodded. "Yuri, don't be offended but an empress really only have one duty, and that is…"

"I know what it is." She said with a slightly bitter smile, but she gave his hand a squeeze to let him know that she was not angry with him.

"Kotsuki have an advantage." Hotohori explained, "His predecessor, myself, did not have any children. The people would really be happy as long as Kotsuki produces an heir, as that is all they wanted in a peaceful kingdom. They are not so concerned about the background of the empress as long as her past is not that tainted, which Chinatsu's isn't. Knowing them, they might even make it into a romantic story.

"If they would not be unhappy, then that would not matter that much, as officials would not complain as long as the people are relatively happy, and provided that the emperor did not act too radical. And as I said before, in time of peace it is easy. Unlike others, he does not need to make peace by treaties of marriages. That had happened before."

"I want Chinatsu to find happiness with the man that she loves as Chiharu and I have." Yuri stated.10

At this word Hotohori suddenly stopped walking and gathered Yuri into a tight embrace. "Yes…we are happy even after all that which had happened because we are together."

* * *

Mitsukake could understand why Hotohori might be angry at the way he had addressed him, but he simply couldn't help it. It was true that as Ju-An and Seishuku, the two of them had been best friends. But they were now at this world again: where he was nothing but a doctor, while Hotohori had been the emperor…his emperor.

"Oh, you are all still here." Hotohori said softly as he entered the room with Yuri, who was still clad in the robe of the priestess of Seiryuu, although Chiharu had offered her finest dresses for her.

Looking at Yuri in her formal robes, Chiriko couldn't help but to flinch slightly due to guilt. He was the first celestial warrior the empress had found when she left the palace, and he had promised that he would go to the palace immediately. If he had, then he might have spared her so much pain.

"I am sorry." He whispered.

"For what?" Yuri frowned, she never found out that he actually did not keep the promise that he had made.

As Chiriko began to explain, Hotohori turned toward Mitsukake. His expression darkened into disgust as the other automatically thought about kneeling then turned to Ryoen, who was the only other person in the room besides Yuri who was not affected by the fact that he was once the emperor of Konan.

"Does the past erase the present completely?" he wonders out aloud.

"Hotohori-sama…" Mitsukake began, hoping to explain.

"I always hate the 'sama' people would attach to the end of my name- if they would even call my name." Hotohori began, his voice very soft. "It successfully reminds me that I am and will remain being the outsider."

"The outsider, but you did so much…" Chiriko protested, temporarily breaking free from his conversation with Yuri.

"I did do much, but they were acts done alone. It was bad enough that I couldn't travel with all of you after the failed attempt of summoning Suzaku because of my duties, then I am constantly being reminded of how I am the outsider by being addressed as 'sama.'

"I know how all of you address each other, and none of you attaches these strangling suffixes. They might be a sign of respect, but they also mean that you regard the person as being so different from you that you do not consider them on the same level as you. It is a barrier.

"The worst bit is that I had believed that the celestial warriors would not treat me as if I am the emperor. I had hoped that they would be my friends."

Mitsukake suddenly remembered the moment when Yuri had died. Even though the emperor had been surrounded by so many people, he seemed so lonely when she was not there, as opposed to the time when he embraces her: even he could tell that the two of them were meant to be together.

How lonely he must have been, he realized, as the emperor he was expected to come up with a solution when he was only a young man as well. He and the rest of the celestial warriors were to be blamed as well, Hotohori was right, they made him as an outsider.

Everyone else was regarded as a friend, so it didn't matter whether they were a bandit or a young child, but whenever thought of Hotohori, they never stopped thinking of him as any other but the emperor.

Didn't Tamahome, Nuriko and Taisuki teased each other the whole time, with even Chiriko, Chichiri and himself joining in at certain times? But whenever Hotohori was concerned, they showed nothing but respect to him.

They had managed to use respect to excluded him completely. They were wrong because Hotohori was a celestial warrior of Suzaku, so they were all meant to be equal- as he said, he expected them treat him as a friend.

"I am so sorry…Hotohori." Mitsukake admitted.

"I am no longer the emperor of Konan," Hotohori stated, "So I hope that this time I can truly be one of the celestial warriors of Suzaku, as Seishuku was to the others. I suppose that is the only reason that I might not like my name sometimes, because of the sama attached with it."

He was going to speak more when a loud cry of pain suddenly interrupted his speech. Clutching to his heart, he sank onto the floor.11

"What is wrong?" Yuri quickly demanded, kneeling down to put a supporting arm around him, but much to her shock- he actually slapped her hand away.

"That…that woman who disguised herself as that maid in Kutou…it must be her." he managed to pant out. "I…I don't know what she did but Yuri, don't touch me as it might harm you."

"But I...I can't just watch and…" she protested.

"Maybe my power can help him somehow." Mitsukake suggested.

He went to place his hand over Hotohori's brow, but this action only made Hotohori scream even more painful, and even more loud. He lashed out with his limbs again, but this time, it was out of an instinct due to the pain the other's hand brought.

"Aniki…please!" Ryoen implored, as he went forward to grab his brother's arms, after Hotohori struck Mitsukake's face. "We are…"

"Mitsukake and Nuriko…I mean Ryoen, don't touch him at all!" Chiriko quickly yelled out. He even got up to grab Ryoen and started to drag him away. "I think as the celestial warriors of Suzaku will cause him pain if we touch him in anyway."

Hotohori managed a weak smile as he nodded, "That is true. When Yuri held me it did not hurt, but when Mitsukake and Ryoen tried to touch me, the pain worsened so much."

* * *

Far away, Miiru narrowed her eyes, so they discovered this quicker then she had expected. She had originally intended for him to suffer greatly due to them not knowing that it was them that brought him more pain.

Undaunted, her lips curled into a thin smile as she dangled the blood doll in her hand. She would move onto the next part of her plan then.

* * *

In Konan, Hotohori screamed once again, the pain in his body had worsened even though the other three celestial warriors were some distant away from him. Whatever curse was put on him, it even resembled a standard disease, it would worsen.

"How do we heal him? There must be way?" Ryoen demanded to Mitsukake once again. "You are the doctor, you should know!"

"I heal sicknesses, not curses!" Mitsukake had to force his voice to be calm because he was panicking as he fixed his gaze onto Hotohori.

His whole body was now thrashing and Yuri barely manages to hold him down. He didn't want her to even come to contact least the curse was contagious, but there was no other way as someone must restrain him, and the three others would only make the matter worse.

"Hotohori…please!" Yuri was whispering, her tears falling onto him. For a brief second, only a slight instant, that managed to calm him down a little. "I know how much it must hurt but please, hold on while we try to find a way to cure you!"

He couldn't even speak, but could only nod. As the latest spasm of pain came over, his head was thrown back and in the process, his long hair fell to one side, revealing his ears- which was bleeding on one side.

Suddenly, Mitsukake remembered what had once happened with a patient. Much to his surprise then, his power was not effective in anyway. Later on, they discovered that the person was sick due to being possessed by a demon, who managed to enter from his wounds.

He had managed to save that man by sucking the being out from the wound.

Eagerly, he began to tell them the story.

"It will work! It has to work!" Yuri said excitedly.

"Yes, but Yuri, it is dangerous!" Mitsukake pointed out. "And you can't do it and hold onto him at the same time!"

Yuri's reply was interrupted when Hotohori suffered another wave of pain, this time it was even worse- his body could barely respond to this attack. Yuri tried to hold on but was shoved away from him due to the way his body was shaking.

"I will do anything because I simply can't bear to see him like t his!" Yuri whispered very determinedly, her hand tightly clenched together. "I am not afraid of what will happen as long as I can save him!"

At this declaration the others turned to Hotohori instead, and they all gasped, because he had managed to control his possessed body. His face was very pale and screwed up in pain, while his fingers seemed to be white due to how tightly he was clenching them.

But the important thing was he had managed to dominate his body's instinct of shaking madly due to the pain.

"Yuri, do it. I will…I will be able to endure the pain because that is what you did for me." Hotohori declared out. "That day when you died…when my vision was taken away from me it seemed my hearing was as well because I never heard you make any noises at all, although I knew what had happened later on…If you could do that, then I can endure this pain."

Clasping his hand into his, Yuri nodded and leant forward, while Hotohori closed his eyes and forced his body to stop moving in order for her to suck the poison out.

But it was not easy at all…

"Aniki, why don't you do something?" Ryoen suddenly screamed out.

Initially they all thought he meant Hotohori, and this naturally made both Mitsukake and Chiriko turning to Ryoen, frowning rather angrily. He was already doing so much more then what they believe that they could have done themselves.

But Ryoen was not looking at Hotohori, he was looking and addressing Rokou instead.

The slightly elder man had hunched to a corner due to the shock of what was happening, and no one could really blame him. But it was at a moment when you had to accept all that was happening and find a way to do something.

"How…how can I do what you want me to do…" Rokou whispered. "I am not like you, I am a normal being!"

"Aniki, you don't need to be like me to do this!" Ryoen snapped, not realizing that he continued to address the other as his brother, what he was not fully sure of. "Why can't you help Yuri?"

"You want me to…whatever that thing in there…"

"I know you are afraid but I know that you can do it!" Ryoen continued. "If you don't help him…if you don't even try then I swear, I will hate you forever even though you are my brother!"

Wordlessly, the other man stood up and his face was equally pale as Hotohori's. Ryoen immediately cursed himself, as he felt that he was being a bit too harsh. After all, he himself was rather afraid at whatever the thing was in his brother.

Rokou walked to Hotohori and Yuri, who was still trying to suck the poison out. Without saying a word, he grabbed Hotohori, forcing his body to be still.

It was obvious that he was not used to doing such a thing, as his own body began to shake. But nonetheless, he continued.

With Hotohori's body finally being almost completely still Yuri was able to lean forward and began to suck whatever that possessed his body out properly.

A moment later Yuri bent back, gagging. Turning her face away from Hotohori, she spat the blood out. Almost immediately, Mitsukake grabbed one of the daggers lying on the shelf and stabbed the small pile of blood.

He knew that he was successful when the blood disappeared, and was then replaced by a bright red light.

Exhausted, Hotohori leant back toward the wall, before Yuri threw her arms around his neck to embrace him tightly. As he pulled her closer, he suddenly felt something heavy in his hand. Unclenching his fingers, he smiled.

"Nuriko…this is yours."

Stunned at his brother addressing him by his other name, Ryoen held out his hand to accept the object.

It was one of the seven stones that the celestial warriors of Suzaku must find, and this one contained the memories of Nuriko.12

* * *

The doll made from blood broke, leaving Miiru with nothing but a small pool of blood in front of her. Greatly angered, she raised her hand to brush them away.

Her hand halted in midair, looking down she saw that a hand had pierced right through her body.

The act of killing was so swift that she didn't even have time to speak, even though she parted her mouth in the attempt of forming out a name.

Was it her Rin's? Or was it Tenkou's? No one would ever be able to answer this question now.

Smirking, Tenkou used his clean hand to gather the small pile of blood up to make use that they were not mixed with Miiru's blood in anyway. She turned out to be absolutely useless in the end, and he was certainly not going to let her death, the only thing she did right because of the slight satisfaction it gave him, to ruin this new plan.

"Everyone underestimates the power of a person's blood," he said softly, "This little amount will be enough to torture the priestess of Seiryuu even more."13

* * *

1 This is kind of shifting responsibility, I can't be bothered writing about how everyone regained their memory, or, in Tamahome's case, finding the stone.

2 Oniisan is the most formal way of addressing your older brother, and niichan seems the most informal, but I want aniki to be used instead, because I think that is what both the real Nuriko and Hotohori calls their elder brother. Although I think Aniki must be rather affectionate too since Hotohori actually addresses his mother and father in the very affectionate term of chichi and haha, as well as using that to describe him and Houki when he talked to his son, so I am saying that Aniki is a rather affectionate term, I hope!!! As before, do correct me if I am wrong because I really want to get it right.

3 Yeah…his family history is just so sad. I really want to explore Hotohori's family more. In one of the episodes Tamahome's family came out and now that I think about it, it's almost contrasting to Hotohori. He had four siblings, Hotohori had six but look at Tamahome's family as opposed to Hotohori's, that is not really even a family.

4 I have never mentioned about Hotohori's sister at all, so I want to do it in this fan fiction, the sequel. Apparently he actually have two half sisters which make this very interesting, because it would be so much more easy to make him have two elder sisters: the ones who were born and neglected because they were not the sons wanted. But I can't really remember any mentioning of his two sisters in the novel at all.

5 In regard to this it is really harsh but it seems that in most society, especially in China, the status of the mother does not matter so much, as long as the father is of a higher status, that is why there's legitimization. (Although you don't even need that in China until modern 20th century.) Also, it could be because of a double standard. But it is so ironic that the emperor could basically elect any woman to be his concubines and even empress, as long as she was not born too low, but yet the emperor's other children, especially his daughters would have to marry quite high.

6 Initially I thought that I would actually continue with his flashbacks a bit longer but someone it just didn't work. I don't know why but I just want to add this bit in. I guess in a way that is true: sometimes living is the hardest thing. Ok…I'm being so morbid but I think it's because I have been watching Inuyasha lately and there is this whole idea of how it is easy to die but hard to live. Like Sango, who struggles to live even though she was tempted to kill her brother and herself as that would be easier, and like Miroku's family- who makes sure that they have children even though many of these children would suffer due to their curse but because they believe that one day they will kill Naraku.

7 I especially mention this as I feel that the conversation is kind of getting light hearted, that it seems a bit weird for these two to suddenly talk about these things in a rather casual manner when both of them are really nervous and awkward around each other.

8 Ok sexist I know but don't blame me, it is real history! In the novel it seems that these girls get to go home as soon as the emperor choose to marry but I wanted to make it more realistic as I think what happened in the novel is way too idealistic. So I kind of made it half way between what really roughly happened in Chinese history and what happened in the novel/manga etc. What really happened for many Chinese dynasty is that when the emperor died, all his concubines would be sent to nunnery and other religious centers (while, Chinese equivalent). In my story the concubines must stay in the palace until the emperor die but they are free to go home once he dies, as oppose to being sent to these religious centers.

9 I'm not fully sure whether this is done, but I think it might not be impossible. I am really glad that I get to talk about Yuri's two maids a bit more, as I kind of like them.

10 Just incase any one is actually wondering, and if I don't get to mention her two maids due to the story. Chinatsu did manage to become the empress, so she's the fifth empress of Konan as she is allowed to marry Kotsuki.

11 I know that it is not a heart attack or something but that is what Taka did in the book.

12 Originally I wasn't sure whether I can manage to show one of them (apart from Hotohori) finding their stone. I'm glad that I managed. I think I better explain about the stones in further details because I don't think I actually understand myself that clear. But to make one thing clear, Nuriko gained his stone when he called Rokou his brother, while Rokou did something out of love for his brother. So it all kind of relates to love. So something along the line likes that.

Right now, there are only two more stones left: Hotohori's and Tamahome's.

* * *

_Author's Note: Well, I don't know why but for some reason this chapter seem to be shorter then the rest, and I don't know…in the end I feel that I have elaborated too much on Hotohori's past, and maybe I should have extended the bit when Hothori got poisoned. Well…but I don't want to change it. Once again I beg for reviews! I know it's shameless but they really encourage and motivate me! So if you actually do like the story then please please please (continues on for a long time) review. As most people would understand, you honestly get so touched whenever you get a review! The same goes for me too!_


	9. Chapter Eight

_Author's note: I'm back!!! Ok, I haven't been away for that long but I just haven't type this much. Well, my excuse is that I've been working six days a week for the past two weeks so that is my defense. But anyway, I think there are only two more chapters (including this one) and an epilogue! So it's almost finished! Please review! I'll still update if there is no review but review will motivate me so much more! (I admit, I'm not immune to bribery at all!) A bit of an advertising, I started this random as fan fiction of Inuyasha the other day…the problem with it is that I don't know how to continue! But don't worry Buried Memories is still my main focus!_

_Enjoy and review!_

* * *

The seven celestial warriors of Suzaku had come up with a plan for those who stayed in Konan. They would meet in the cottage that Chichiri had once stayed in when he spent that period of his life in meditation, provided that they finished their business before the others' return from Sairou, as that would be quicker.

Leaving the palace of Konan had been a rather tearful event due to the farewells, but it was something that had to be done. The past would always exist, but one could not live in it forever.

Yuri had took great comfort in knowing that both her maids were now very happy, as Chinatsu would soon be the empress of Konan, while Hotohori was equally happy that Kotsuki had find happiness by being able to be married to the woman that he loves. That was the only way he could live the maximum happiness despite his role's demand: to be the emperor was to always be lonely, the only way to ease the pain slightly was by having someone who would be beside you to support you.

As for Nuriko…he and his brother has achieved the understanding they never had in their past life.

"You will always be my aniki, but you don't need me now!" Nuriko had told Rokou sincerely, "You are as strong as me! You even did what I could not do. The past is not the present, but the past will always exist. Therefore, you will always be my aniki, even when I leave this world. I will never stop thinking of you as my aniki."

The five of them had arrived in the cottage with little difficulty, although they were all worried about Hotohori, who insisted on only resting when they arrived, instead of spending more time in the palace.

"This is more important!" he had pointed out, which was not untrue, but his main reason was probably not wanting to live in the past too much by remaining in the palace of Konan. "We really need to see the rest, and talk about what to do."

Nonetheless, he was forced by everyone else to lie on the makeshift cot Yuri had quickly made for him the moment they arrived in the cottage.

"You have to rest, Hotohori, considering what happened to you." Mitsukake stated, using his authority as a doctor.

Entering the cottage, Nuriko found Yuri kneeling beside her husband, her hand resting on his forehead. Even though she was still dressed in the ceremonial robe of Seiryuu with the shinzaho around her hair, Nuriko felt as if he was at the village of Konan once again.

It was on the eve of his brother's marriage, as traditional the bridal couple was meant to spend the whole day separated. Ryoen…now Nuriko, had been asked by his elder brother to deliver something to Yuri. He had an opportunity of being close with his future sister, but he had thrown it away.

"I gather that you and aniki had a difficult time? The two of you haven't really explained what had all happened." Nuriko finally said quietly, making the woman turn around to face him.

Yuri nodded, "It had been hard. A lot of things had happened and…" here she paused and spread her hands wide as a gesture of confusion. "Why do I feel as if I am trying to convince you that the reason I agreed to your brother's proposal is because I love him, not because I wanted to have a roof over my head?"

"So you remember that too…" he muttered softly. "Actually, I need to talk to you about all that had happened."

"What Ryoen did?"

He nodded this time. "I…I want to try and explain. You see, as Ryoen… my brother and I…since we were little, we had been very close. He had his friends while I had mine, but there was still always this deep closeness the two of us shared. I suppose it's also due to the fact that we were siblings, so we shared a same home, unlike friends…"

"Then I came and all of a sudden your brother is completely occupied by me, even when you are at home." Yuri finished, "I don't blame you that much for it, although it did upset me a lot. But I think the frustration is mainly due to the fact that you really thought that I was marrying him for a mercenary reason, and you continued to believe that even after everyone else was saying that it is obvious how much I really love him."

"I know I am wrong now…but you have to admit, it was very strange for me when I did not have my memories." Nuriko protested. "He saw you for what I believed to be the first time, and immediately asked you to marry him."

"Then how could I have agreed to marry him for a mercenary reason when it did not seem that he was that well off?" Yuri pointed out.

At this logic, he could only sigh again. "I really am sorry."

Much to his surprise, his sister in law actually smiled and even stood up to place her hands on his shoulder with true sincerity.

"That is all I want, Ryoen…Nuriko. I can forgive you for everything." At his confusion, she began to explain, but not managing to keep the slight bitterness out of her voice. "Sometimes we make mistakes that are our fault, even though we cannot be fully blamed for it. At such a mistake, the only thing to do is to apologise, instead of pretending that it never happened."

"Have you committed such a mistake?"

She nodded for the second time. "So has Miaka."

Miaka? Nuriko would have tried to work out what Yuri meant had she not walked out of the cottage, at this he quickly ran after her, as his apology was only half completed.

He found her talking to Mitsukake softly, probably asking after Hotohori's condition. Chiriko was sitting beside them, reading a scroll with great concentration.

"He only needs rest." Mitsukake reassured Yuri, before he resumed his original task of examining the herbs in his hands. "I know you feel bad about what happened with the possession but it really wasn't your fault."

"You apologised, and that is the main point, isn't it?" Nuriko pointed out with a sincere smile as he repeated what Yuri just said to him.

Smiling in relief, Yuri nodded and sat down with Nuriko. She knew that she should be worried about all that would come, but right now she was happy. Even though her companions were the celestial warriors of Suzaku, they made her feel as if she truly was one of them- that she had a right to be here.

This must be what it would feel like to be the priestess of Suzaku, Yuri thought, the quest would be hard, but it would not always be that bad due to her companions.

But the greater the happiness you have, the greater the despair you would receive, her subconscious reminded her.

Her reveries were interrupted by Nuriko, who shifted himself in order to look at her in the eyes.

"I…I explained my actions as Ryoen, but I also need to explain myself as Nuriko."

"You resented me, I knew that." Yuri said softly, recollecting the numerous times the other celestial warrior glared at her. She had regarded these emotions as being natural, as she believed the other to be a woman.

She only discovered Nuriko's true gender shortly before her death, and by that time she was in so much pain that she didn't care at all.

"There were only a few women before it was my turn to see the emperor," Nuriko began explaining, referring to the day when Hotohori was meant to be electing an empress out of the one hundred concubines. "Then an official told us that we were all to go to the quarters we had been assigned to, because the emperor had already chosen the one he wants.

"It's silly but at that time I had lived as a woman for so long that I really believed that I am a woman. So I was in love with the emperor, or rather, I believed that I was in love with him.

"But I didn't start to really dislike you until you left the palace, because Hotohori…aniki was so upset. I blamed you and believed that if I was so lucky to have his love, I would never do anything that would cause him such pain. I…"

"Nuriko, you said that the past is important, but I do not think we should let some past become a chain either." Yuri interrupted him gently. "Some memories should be let go. Not buried…because they can never be buried…but be accepted and therefore forgotten."

Nuriko nodded, unable to describe the vast amount of relief he felt at her suggestion. Why was it that he felt so guilty due to the negative feelings he had towards her? It was not completely abnormal, but when he gained his memories, and recollected how he had treated her, he felt as if he had committed a crime!

"What do you feel about me now?" Yuri asked curiously.

He paused a bit before he spoke: "At the end of my life as Nuriko, before we all left this world, I admired you for your courage, at what you dared to do. Now, I wish for you to be as an older sister whom I can love.

"In fact…can I call you neesan?"1

At her nod, Nuriko felt that he had got rid of his burden at last, as he finally made peace with Yuri.2

* * *

Unlike the shinzaho of Genbu, the shinzaho of Byakko was obtained with relatively little difficulty. That was why Miaka; Tamahome; Chichiri; Taisuki, were either in a cheerful mood as they headed back toward Konan, or felt a bit better even after all that had happened in Konan- before Chichiri and Taisuki got their own stones.

Miaka and Tamahome were extremely happy, as they had obtained Tamahome's stone due to a procedure that brought the two lovers nothing but great happiness. In order to summon Suzaku, as well as gaining Tamahome's stone, Miaka and he must understand the maximum emotion that Suzaku was in charge of, which was love.3

In order to do this, the two of them finally became one entity. Now the two of them were riding on a horse together, Tamahome with his hands around Miaka's waist tightly, while she leant back, smiling in great content as she finally had all that she wanted. After what they did, the two of them had decided that they would marry as soon as they arrive back in Tokyo.4

"This is what I wanted for so long!" Miaka giggled, squeezing Tamahome's hand, ignoring the other's good natured teasing.

"I really am glad that they are still so happy together." Taisuki commented out to Chichiri, who was recollecting the woman who had been his fiancée, whom he vowed to immediately be with as soon as he returned. He was not so much a fool as to waste a second chance when he knew of it.

Taisuki could not forgive himself for what he had done yet, even though the others assured him that he completely redeemed himself due to the part he played when Chichiri was attacked.

"The most disgusting bit is actually not because I tried to force her," Taisuki said once more, his voice now very quiet to prevent the pair in front of them hearing, "But it is because it is done due to a possessive jealousy. I always regard Miaka as a little sister...the type of sister who depends on me. I like that as I am the youngest in my family and my sisters have always dominated over me.

"Then when...when that man..." he paused slightly and shook her head, "I don't want to say his name yet."

"I understand," Chichiri assured him, "I think I'm not ready to be reminded of what he did either."

"After he went, I saw Tamahome and I was just so angry that he didn't look after Miaka, and as a result I didn't think he deserve her, I felt that I actually had the right to judge because I regard her as my younger sister. Likewise, I did that disgusting act due to the fact that I believe I am only doing this for the best of her."5

"Loving someone too much is not always a good thing," Chichiri said rather sagely, "I killed one who is my best friend due to loving her too much."

The two of them exchanged a slight smile before they caught up with the others, determined to not worry Miaka. They all truly adore her as she was the one who never once distrusted them, as well as helping them to make the right choice. Taisuki doubted that any one else in her situation would not hate him after what he did, while Chichiri was sure that he would never find the courage to not fight with the one who had been his best friend if Miaka was not there.6

"What is it?" Taisuki cursed when he almost collided into Tamahome, making his already small control over his horse even thinner.7

"A person is there..." Tamahome whispered, nodding toward a corner surrounded by bushes.

Nodding in understanding, Chichiri began to chant some sort of spell.

"Who is it? Who is it?" Miaka asked eagerly, trying to lean forward to see the hidden person.

Chichiri suddenly frowned, and he actually got off his horse to walk toward the bush.

"Chichiri, what are you doing? That is dangerous!" Taisuki hissed, pulling out his fan.

"It will not be, because I sense the aura of a celestial warrior of Suzaku, although it is not very strong." Chichiri explained.

Without warning, he banged his staff down, making the leaves part way to reveal the person hidden in there.

He was lying on the ground, his body slightly wounded as part of his cloth was stained due to blood. At the sudden light, he tilted his head, making his hair fell to one side of the face in a long cascade of pure raven black, as the ribbon that usually gathered it back had been broken.

"SEISHUKU!" Chichiri chocked out. "Why are you here? Where is Yuri?"8

Sighing, Seishuku sat up, one hand resting on his brow, while the other was pressed over one of the wounds in his stomach.

"I don't know...I don't know anything. All I remember is that I asked Seiryuu to let me go with Yuri, then the next thing I know is that I'm here and then I saw him...Tenkou. He...he attacked me but did not kill me, as he said that he intend to torture me even more by what he would do to Yuri." at the mentioning of her name his voice quickly changed to one of deep worry. "Yuri...do you not know what happened to Yuri at all?"

"We have heard nothing of Yuri-neesan at all!" Miaka said worriedly. "We presume that you'll be in Kutou with her."

Seishuku shook his head furiously, and brought his fist down. "So once again I let her travel alone...once again I fail to help her at all."

"It isn't your fault that this happened." his priestess assured him. "Beside, I'm sure that Yuri-neesan is fine, Kotsuki told us that the new ruler of Kutou is a very good man and that everyone in Kutou really loves Yuri."

"I suppose that assures me slightly but I am still really worried about her- especially as she is alone." unclenching his fist he grabbed the object next to him, and as he held it towards him, they saw that it was the sword that Taitsukun had gave him.

The sword was also holy in a way, not everyone could hold it- at least not those who possessed evil thoughts.9

Initially, Chichiri had been rather suspicious at Seishuku's appearance, because he was sure that Seiryuu would let Seishuku accompany Yuri. He was perhaps the only one who was fully certain that Seiryuu was not a bad deity at all, despite what he had done to Yuri, as well as the crimes his people had committed. What happened with Rin also helped to make him a bit more cautious.10

But then he saw Seishuku touching and holding the sword, so he was certain that the man in front of them was really the last emperor of Konan, as well as one of his best friends in his new life.

"I only hope that Yuri is fine." Seishuku was muttering, and the sincerity in his voice along with his obvious love for his wife made it very hard to believe that this was someone else acting as Seishuku.

* * *

Even though the cottage that Chichiri had stayed in was isolated, there was actually a small field of flowers beside it. Yuri found herself drawn to these wildflowers, and singing softly as she began to pick them. The strangest bit was that the lyrics of the song suddenly came to her, making it appear as if she already knew the song, although she was certain that she had not heard it before.

Yet she felt a deep sadness that seemed personal as she sang it. She told herself it was because the words were like a reminder for what had happened to her and Hotohori, but somehow that did not seem to be the true explanation.11

"I would be able to say that I was happy to sacrifice my life for him

If it was the only way to protect him

I can show him a smile for even as my breath is fading away

This calmness can never be taken fro me

Not even by whatever destiny I have

When the pain reaches to the very heart of me

I'll be looking at you

My love for you will remain eternal even when my entire body rots out."12

She shivered slightly as she ended her singing, which made her decide to continue her flower picking in silence. She much preferred the memories of what was certain.

Smiling, she saw herself as the empress of Konan, picking flowers with the help of her maids, who stood behind her with a basket each as she selected the flowers she preferred and carefully cut it. She didn't usually spent much of her time picking flowers as the royal gardeners was responsible, but there were a few times when she wanted a change in her schedule and so she would end up in the garden with the most abundant number of flowers.

Once, Hotohori had finished court early and he had went up to her, embracing her from behind even as she was holding a bunch of flowers next to her breast...

A pair of arms surrounded her, but she was unafraid because she knew who it was.

"Hotohori, are you feeling better?" she asked gently, tilting her head back to look into the face of her husband.

"Yuri, I miss you so much!" he whispered as he turned her around to hold her against him tightly, as well as kissing her very passionately.

She couldn't help but to giggle at this. "You only spent a day resting!"

"A day?" Seishuku repeated with a deep frown. "Yuri, it had been many days as the last time I saw you was when we were still in Tokyo!"13

* * *

As soon as they arrived at the cottage, Seishuku had insisted on going to find Yuri, as he knew that she was here. They naturally let him as they could all understand his need of seeing her.

The rest found Chiriko and Nuriko sitting in a spot behind the cottage, completely unaware of their arrival. Once everyone exchanged greeting, they told them that Mitsukake was inside the cottage.

No one noticed the figure lying at one corner of the cottage.

"So Yuri is here?" Tamahome immediately asked.

"She is." Mitsukake stated simply. "Chichiri, I need to talk to you about Hotohori."

The other immediately agreed and even allowed himself to be pulled away from the rest, as the three of them were best friends. "Ryoen...Nuriko should come as well."

"No, their conflict is already solved," Chichiri did not regard this as strange as he thought that Mitsukake meant that Nuriko had finally understand his brother's actions due to the regaining of his memories, that being the main barrier between the siblings. "It is more related with you...and I...

"Chichiri, haven't you realize that we always treated Hotohori as the outsider because of his position as the emperor?"

At this Chichiri couldn't help but to feel a deep pang of guilt as he realized the accuracy of this statement, and he too, began to try and think how Hotohori must have felt.

"To be honest, I never realized how painful if must have been for him whenever we call him 'Hotohori-sama' due to respect, until he made me see that..."

"Wait a moment!" Chichiri immediately looked up at this statement: "You said that..."

"When I saw him with Yuri, I had called him Hotohori-sama and he..."

"You met him already?" Chichiri frowned. "That's strange, I was sure that he did not head this way."

It was Mitsukake's turn to frown this time. "Hotohori had been with us ever since he arrived in Konan with Yuri a day or two ago."

"Who...who is Seishuku then?" Chichiri demanded, his voice no longer hushed.

It was this that finally caused Hotohori to wake up. Sitting up he greeted his companions, wondering why some of them were looking at him with such a strange expression that seemed to be a mixture of shook and horror. Was it because they were all seeing him as the emperor of Konan again? This would make sense if it was only Tamahome and Taisuki, but strangely enough, Miaka was amongst them as well.

Then they heard Yuri scream.

* * *

It was not a scream of horror, but more one of shock. Running outside, they saw that Yuri was standing some distance away from Seishuku, who did not seem to have moved, as the scattered flowers were by his feet- indicating where Yuri had stood.14

"Don't...don't come near me!" Yuri was saying to Seishuku. Turning around she saw the rest of the Suzaku warrior with Hotohori among there. "You...don't come near either!"

With the exception of their clothing and the fact that one had his hair gathered back, while the other's hair was completely untied, the two men were identical similar in appearance. Closing his eyes in order for the casting of a spell, Chichiri was to discover that the two men had the same aura around them.

"What is this?" Miaka mumbled.

"Obviously one of them is not real, and from what we have heard one of them might be created by Tenkou." Chiriko analyzed rather rationally. "But the problem is that we cannot really figure out who is the real one."

"They both seem identical." Nuriko stated, next to Yuri, he was the one they expected to detect the real one, as Ryoen was Seishuku's brother, while Nuriko's memories of Hotohori were deeper then the other celestial warriors of Suzaku, as he had been in love with his emperor. "Neesan..."

"How am I suppose to work out who is the real person?" Yuri chocked out. "Hotohori...he has been beside me all these time that it is not possible for him to be fake but if Seishuku is not real it does not make sense as well. What he has said to me...he..."

Perhaps what she feared the most was that Hotohori was not real, because she would never be able to forgive herself if she had lay with another man- if he was even a man- under the believe that he was her husband.

Unable to control herself she sank down to the ground, causing both Hotohori and Seishuku to automatically step forward to her in concern.

"I don't want either of you to come near me right now!" Yuri repeated.

"But you love him, you must be able to know..." Miaka began but was quickly hushed by Nuriko.15

"I don't!" Yuri screamed out.

Suddenly, Seishuku went up to her and grabbed her by the arms.

"What...what are you doing?" Yuri whispered brokenly. "Why do I even ask that? Who are you?"

"Yuri, it is me." Seishuku said tenderly. "I don't know what has been done that caused that...that copy of me to be made, but I don't blame you at all for what happened. Tenkou, Tenkou did this."

All of a sudden Yuri saw that image once again, of Hotohori with Miiru. The insecure bit inside her pointed out that surely her husband would never be with another woman, even if it was by a spell. But rationality quickly stepped in by reminding her that Hikitsu, a celestial warrior of Genbu, had acknowledged Hotohori's presence, surely he would be able to tell whether the man beside her was the real celestial warrior or not.

Seiryuu had appeared as well, if her husband was actually one of Tenkou's minions then wouldn't the god she serve tell her? But he did say that he had little time to do all that he would do...

She was so frustrated that she lacked the will to struggle even as Seishuku held her close.

"It is not fair for you to suffer so much, to be alone and be with that thing Tenkou created." Seishuku was saying, Hotohori would have tore Yuri out of his hold if it wasn't for Nuriko holding him back with his strength, which was regained with his memories.

"Aniki, if you are my aniki, then you must not be irrational." the younger man advised him. "Please see this from our point, and try to be calm."

But how can he be calm when Yuri was being held by what might be one of Tenkou's minions, especially considering what the last one did.

"Yuri, let us leave all this. We have suffered too much already." Seishuku repeated.

"You would have us leaving our duty?" Yuri asked softly, leaning forward.

"I am sick of it all, protecting Miaka when it is you that I truly worry about, as well as not being with you because of the responsibility I have toward my kingdom. Now that I am no longer bind by my duty, this new quest exists to separate me from you again. I don't want that, I don't want to be away from you."

"And so you will take me away from this right now?" Yuri repeated, her hand now resting against his thigh.

"We will go away from all this, have we not done enough? We..."

He was cut off abruptly when Yuri shoved him away from her, as well as drawing his sword out of its sheath to hold it right in front of him.

"Who are you?" Yuri stated flatly, ignoring the mutterings of all the other.

All with the exception of Hotohori, as he was beginning to realize just who the other was.

"Yuri, what are you doing?" Seishuku chocked out, the shock and hurt look on his face was so realistic that it just did not seem to be possible for it to have come from any other man other then him.

"Whoever you are, you are not Hotohori or Seishuku. Yes, you are like him in almost every aspect until you betrayed yourself." she released a chuckle, but there were no mirth in it at all. "He...he would never abandon his duty no matter what, at least not all of it, what you just suggested us to do."

"It's because I am sick of my duties, what they caused us to do! Surely you out of all people would understand!"

"Yes, he would speak of abandoning his duties, and I can understand why he would play with these thoughts." Yuri continued calmly. "And to an extent he is not following his duties as a celestial warrior of Suzaku by being with me, but we are still doing what must be done, not running away as you suggested.

"No mater what, Hotohori would never do that.16

"So I ask you again. Who are you?"

"The part of me that wishes to be free of all responsibility." Hotohori answered softly as he stepped away from all the others to go to Seishuku. "The part of me that wishes to do what I want, instead of doing what I must because of the decrees of the gods. I hate that part of me, as well as envy him. I hate him because he is doing what I regard as despicable, yet I can not help but to admire him because he is doing what I truly wants to do."17

By this time Hotohori had managed to stand right in front of Seishuku, even though the other was backing away.

"I don't know what has happened to make you stand in front of me but enough is enough." Hotohori stated sternly. "I understand now, it is normal to feel what I feel, so I accept your presence in me." Saying so he reached out to hold the other man, pulling him towards his own body. "Return to my body."18

A red light surrounded the two of them, and the rest could do nothing but to watch Seishuku being literally pulled into Hotohori. Strangely, it was not sickening in any way, as Seishuku began to fade the closer he approached Hotohori.

When he was finally gone, Hotohori bent his head down- perhaps in acknowledgement to the other part in him- making his hair fell over his shoulders. This revealed his neck and the glowing character of 'star' that appeared there.

Stretching his hand to Yuri, she immediately went to him, embracing him tightly. Smiling at her, he placed something in her hand.

But their joy was very short, as the light disappeared very quickly due to the shadow that began to circle around them.

"Tenkou." Yuri whispered to Hotohori, who nodded and pulled her into his embrace even more, although he knew that he could offer her very little protection from Tenkou.

"Say good bye to your beloved, priestess of Seiryuu." Tenkou said with a smirk as he stepped out from the shadows, but the chillingness in his voice was enough to make everyone shudder at the thought of what he would do.

Another of his plan failed, leaving him with only the last final plan.

* * *

1 Neesan is a way of calling some one 'elder sister'

2 Hopefully I managed to make that good, the whole issue between Yuri and Nuriko (Ryoen). On a side note, their rivalry actually started since that prologue story!

3 This was mentioned in the beginning of Volume 15, when Suzaku told Miaka about Tenkou

4 To be honest the last OVA really surprised me due to the fact that Miaka and Tamahome didn't seem to have marry immediately after the second OVA, although I suppose they probably did have to arrange everything

5 Watase Yuu said that Taisuki's love for Miaka is really more of a sibling love, and his actions are like an over possessiveness towards a young sister, which cause you to be angry when they are in love with another other then you. Personally I don't think that Taisuki is in love with Miaka in the romantic romantic fashion, my view is what I just described.

6 I know that these two things are both admirable but as I said, I don't like Miaka and now I think she is too angelical that is just seem unnatural, I mean, there are times when you have to fight despite who your opponent is. But then I just don't like Miaka so I'm highly biased, I admit that I'm just anti-Miaka, so I might just not like something for the sake that she did it. Although I really don't know how my liking of her shifted to a slight dislike, that eventually turned to a really strong negative feeling. But as I warned in the front, if you like Miaka, then don't read my story! At least don't read this one, I think the first one is not that bad

7 As shown in the original fushigi yugi, Taisuki had great difficulty in riding his horse

8 Yeap, this is Seishuku. Presuming that most people know the original story, I think you would be able to figure out what I'm doing and what has happened!)

9 In the original story Hotohori gave this sword to Miaka, as a replacement of him. He wanted his sword to be able to protect her as he is unable to be beside her, poor Hotohori. But this didn't happen in this story, as it simply didn't happen.

10 I kind of feel that many of the warriors of Suzaku sees things in too much a black and white fashion, or at least that is what I feel now, I feel that Chichiri would be exempt from this with Hotohori (him being an emperor, and he is definitely not naive) because Chichiri had done wrongs himself. As for what Rin did, well he probably did something similar to the manga but I don't know because I never wrote about his actions, I only included Miiru's.

11 This will relate to my prologue, I'm really letting the ideas for my prologue running wild in Buried memories. But as explained, it's like about their past past life, what happened is that Yuri had once sang this song to Hotohori in their past past life.

12 Ok...I really have a thing for Fushigi Yugi character songs, and I have the very bad habit of twisting songs to fit into my ideas even if it is certain that there is no possible ways that a song can be about certain characters. But I often listen to a song and go 'oh that song is describing so and so so well, even though I know that it is not about so and so.' As seen in hidden secrets, I did that with Hotohori's character songs, using quite a lot of it, I couldn't resist doing this in Buried memories too, apart from the difference is that this time, and it is Yuri who is doing the quoting. But this is actually someone else's character song (well duh, Yuri is an oc) This is taken from Soi's character song 'Please tremble', as I really like Soi and I feel that she and Yuri are kind of similar. Note: the actress who did Soi sounds so beautiful when she sing, so I really recommend hearing Soi's character songs, even if you don't like her, as it really is worth it. Being biased here but I think she and Koyasu Takehito and the guy who did Taisuki, sang the best out of the whole cast.

13 Oooh...what is happening? What will happen? By the way, to avoid confusion, Seishuku is the one that Chichiri and the rest found, while Hotohori is the one that accompanied Yuri ever since she woke up in Kutou.

14 I've been watching Weiss Kreuz lately and for some reason that caused me to have images of flowers, so I couldn't help but to include some in this fan fiction. I kind of want to do a fan fiction for Weiss too, as it is a really good story, a bit moralizing but it's still really good. Although I wouldn't be doing one yet as there is no definite plot, only a character)

15 Unlike Miaka, Yuri does not know which one is real just by looking at them, but this does not mean that she love him any less. Because as it will be revealed, both are Hotohori in a way.

16 Hotohori is not doing his full duty by protecting Yuri instead of Miaka, but he is still doing the whole stop Tenkou quest. And he has told Yuri that he doesn't want to be bind to his duties as he once was, but he did not say that he would abandon his duties, although he admits that it is tempting.

17 It kind of sound like split personality eh? At least I thought about it that way when I first came up with this idea? The fact that I came up with the idea when I was listening to sukisyo drama cd didn't help. For those who don't know, Sukisyo is this game/drama/cd the Koyasu Takehito is in-who as we all know by now, is the voice actor for Hotohori, and in Sukisyo, Koyasu's role is Yoru, the alternate ego of the protagonist Sora.

18 This is basically what happened in the book with Taka and Tamahome, the only difference is that in my story it's Seishuku and Hotohori, and it's caused by Hotohori's blood. That was what Tenkou meant.

* * *

_Author's Note: Gosh, I actually typed this chapter up in two go, I'm so proud! It seems that I suddenly have wave of inspirationAlthough it still took some time updating as want to edit and re-edit it to make sure that it is worth reading- that it is good enough- I really hope it is. I am now certain, the story is almost finished, and it seems that at least in chapter length, it will be shorter then hidden secrets, although I'm not sure about what will happen with the word count._

_By the way my computer seems to have gone berserk so I'm, not sure if the spell cheek is working or not._

_But I suppose next chapter is the big one? Tenkou being destroyed and Yuri making peace with herself, and we (well, the readers will sort of be able to discover what had happened in the past.)_ _Please review, especially when in regard to the thing about their past/my prologue story which will be in the next chapter, as that will help me to determine whether I should write my prologue story or not.)_

_So another chapter done, I'll try to get the next chapter (Very likely the last chapter done) finished, as I want to finish my story in December- as I'll get really busy in January as summer school start at that time._

_REVIEW REVIEW!_


	10. Chapter Nine

_Author's Note: This is it, the last chapter, the big chapter! I have to admit, I was really nervous in regard to posting this one up because of what all my radical ideas that I have put in it! Maybe that is going a bit too far, but this chapter does contain a lot of weird ideas, but still, I hope some people would like it. And please review!_

_There will probably be typos but I have spent a lot of time reading this so it shouldn't be that bad…and if it is, do forgive me, as I have tried to not make it filled with typos_.

* * *

What Yuri failed to understand, was why Tenkou seemed to be so vindictive to her. Even though he glanced at all of them with a cold dislike, his gaze hardened to a pure loathing once he turned to her.

Feeling Hotohori's arms tightening around her, she knew that he was wandering about the same thing. As for Hotohori…the look in Tenkou's eyes as they focused on her husband was a cruel amusement.

"What do you want?" Miaka yelled bravely beside Tamahome, who immediately shoved her to the safety of his back.

Tenkou ignored her and continued to look at Yuri and Hotohori.

"You present yourself as so noble and tragic, priestess of Seiryuu, but I wonder how you would act if you learn the truth- that every pain which happens to you is something that you deserve."

"Don't listen to him, neesan!" Miaka screamed back. "You know that all he said would only be lies…"

"Is it a lie that you killed the seven celestial warriors of Seiryuu?" Tenkou said evenly, his smirk growing even crueler. "There are many more things I can say to break you, but I have decided to not waste anymore time now."

Saying so he waved his hand slightly, and all of a sudden Hotohori felt Yuri stiffening in his arms. She then turned around and he saw that her eyes were now vacant. He titled her head up, only to find her continue staring at him with that empty expression.

Her lips parted slightly, whispering something…

"Hotohori…" at the sound of his own name he naturally bent his head down to hear what she was saying.

"Hotohori…don't leave me…don't go away"

Saying so she actually pushed him away in order to kneel down, all this time her vacant eyes seemed to be staring hard at something that only she could see, and tears were silently making their way down her face. Kneeling down she stretched her hands out, putting it over something invisible as they were in midair.

As she whispered one more time, he realized what Tenkou must have done.

"Don't die."

"What…what is happening?" he just managed to hear Ryoen muttering behind him, and barely recognized the voice of the person who explained. All he could do was to continue looking at Yuri, even though she was trapped in the illusion that Tenkou created.

An illusionary world where Hotohori was killed.

"So she is weak," Tenkou said, the malicious delight he had in watching Yuri's suffering through his spell made the rest all glare back or fumble with their weapons, although both Chichiri and Mitsukake were trying to maintain control by making everyone calm down.

The two of them just managed to breathe a sigh of relief when even Tasuki put down his fan, only to notice Hotohori-who had drawn out his sword. Seeing this Chichiri acted on instinct, he went up and grabbed Hotohori, as there was not even time for casting any spells.

"You cannot just fight blindly!" he screamed out, his fingers clawing around the other man due to his refusal at being restrained.

"How can I watch this and do nothing?!" Hotohori yelled back, thinking of the pain Yuri would be suffering due to the illusion. There was nothing worse then to see your loved one dying, he would know because that was what he suffered when Yuri summoned Seiryuu.

* * *

Everything had happened so quickly for Yuri. She only recollected being in Hotohori's embrace as Tenkou appeared, what he said had made her unfocused as she began to think of all the strange things that had happened, as well as numerous curious words that had been said to her.

It seemed that she had a life before this one, and in that life, she seemed to have committed some sort of crime along with Hotohori.

"Is all that happened to me in this life as a punishment for what I did in my last life?" she asked herself softly.

At this irony, she laughed bitterly. Her past had affected her so much, that she almost risked losing happiness. The truth was that she had fallen in love with Hotohori very quickly, but she had been afraid of loving him due to her mother's numerous failed relationships. For the first few weeks of her marriage she had actually been very afraid that her husband would one day wake up and regret everything.

It was ironic that when she finally achieved happiness by abandoning her past, it came to haunt her again more then once.

As for Tenkou's sneers and taunts, they were not unfamiliar. But the strangest thing was that she could also see an image of that cruel face transforming into a kind one…what would only be done to seduce someone's service and loyalty.

Had she been in such a position in the past?

Suddenly, Tenkou raised his hands. The moment he did so, she felt the arms around her loosening. She didn't want to turn around because she knew that she would see something that she would loath, but nonetheless she still had to turn.

Hotohori was falling down, and as he did so, time literally seemed to stop, although she would have laughed at herself for seeing the world in such a cliché term. She felt that she could have prevented him from falling if she stretched out her hand, but somehow her arms were moving so slowly as well. She could barely hear herself whispering his name.

It was like what would happen in a nightmare, only that this was her reality. Smiling at her one last time, Hotohori closed his eyes, and she knew that he would never look at her so lovingly with these golden orbs in this world again.

He…he was dead…Tenkou killed him.

"Hotohori…don't leave me…don't go away" she whispered again.

Someone grabbed her, preventing her from holding her beloved, she angrily shoved him away, even as she began to cry. Kneeling, she rested her hand over his body, finding that she was not strong enough to even wrap her arms around him a last time.

"Don't die." She implored, even though he could no longer hear her.

She didn't know what to do other then to kneel in front of him and cry. She knew that he might die before her, but she had refused to think of how she should grief, as after meeting him in her old world, she always believed that the two of them would reach old age together. If that had happened, then she would not be irrational, she could accept his death and take comfort in knowing that she would soon join him.

When she was the empress of Konan…there had been times when she worried about his heath due to the welfare of the state, but she had always allowed herself be soothed by him whenever he embraced and held her.

Then Miaka had come, and that arrival had resulted in her departure. The one thing she had been certain as she left Hotohori was that she was doing something that should help to lengthen his life.

For the first time in her life she almost regretted having chosen to be the priestess of Seiryuu in order to save Hotohori, because she finally understood the full dept of pain that she had put Hotohori through by choosing to die.

Why was it that she still did not hate this world? It had brought her so much pain…so much despair. They first threw her here to be the wife of one of the few man who could not make her his first priority, even though he love her, then it was this world that snatched her away from him.

This world demanded her to be the priestess of Seiryuu…by doing so it forced her to walk onto a path where all the possible endings were tragic.

The best path was to her own death…

Suddenly, she frowned as she recollected what Seiryuu had told her. The clue to summoning him was related to what had happened last time. Initially she had thought it referred to the celestial warriors and the sacred scroll, but now she was remembering what had happened to her solely when she first prepared to summon Seiryuu.

"A path of despair…" She whispered to herself. "All I wanted was to be with Hotohori, but that was the one thing impossible. Now the same thing is happening, all I want is Hotohori, but he is dead."

She was experiencing the greatest amount of despair that was possible for her.

"I understand now." She realized bitterly. "In order to summon their god, the priestess must know and understand about the maximum emotion her deity is in charge of. Suzaku is in charge of love, and when she first summoned Suzaku, Miaka and Tamahome had declared out their intention of being with each other forever, and this time they have physically loved each other.

"As for me…the deity I serve is in charge of despair. It is this emotion that I felt and is feeling."

I hate you, Seiryuu, for doing this to me, she said inside her mind bitterly as she stood up, even though her face was still bowed down to let her hair conceal her features. I will do what you demand me to do, but I am only doing this because this is what must be done.

I am not destroying Tenkou because you said that it must be done, she continued, taking one last look at the body of Hotohori, but because I want him to pay for Hotohori's death.

"I understand what I must do now." She repeated, and with that she stopped her wild sobbing and turned to look at Tenkou straight in the eyes without flinching. Her mind now very clear.

"Do you really actually think that what you have done ensured your victory?" she hissed softly.

"You can never summon Seiryuu now, you are truly a weakling, to let such petty emotions affect you again." Tenkou taunted back, still thrilled at the disarray her emotions had been.

"You are a fool, Tenkou! For that you will be sealed once again." Yuri spat back, and the confidence in her tone surprised every one. "You have just helped Seiryuu to come out."

* * *

Tenkou was preparing to laugh again when he suddenly saw the blue light that began to surround her, they gathered themselves around her and began to grew brighter and brighter. For the first time since he started his plans he saw the possibility of failure. Strangely, there was also a soft red light that appeared from the stone that she clutched in her hand.

"Neesan…" Miaka began.

"The last of the seven stones that represent some sort of love all the celestial warriors of Suzaku feel." With what appeared as great anger Yuri threw it to Mika. "The truth is, Miaka, I really resent you sometimes. Being love by everyone, by our father and our brother, by your seven celestial warriors." Here she chuckled and glanced at her hands. "I did not even obtain the lightest affection from any of the seven celestial warriors of Seiryuu, they only used me just as I used them. And I killed them…1

"But until today I didn't care that much, because I wanted you to love me as a sister. I wanted another person's love. But today, I realize that I almost hate you!" at her scream the blue light around her brightened and there seemed to be a wind blowing from within her body as her garment and ribbons were flapping to every single direction and her hair was snaking themselves around her throat.2

"Why is it that you are the priestess of Suzaku, while I am the priestess of Seiryuu?!"

"Yuri, be…reasonable…" Chichiri began rather worriedly.

"Reasonable when my fate makes me serve a god whose will is for me to suffer?" she snapped. "Suzaku wields the power of love so all Miaka have to do to summon Suzaku is to love someone with the ultimate love, her lessons in understanding this was to first find the one she love, then to experience love physically. But I can only summon Seiryuu if I taste the maximum emotion Seiryuu is in charge of, and he wields the power of despair!

"When I first summoned Seiryuu the only ending I had was death, and now Hotohori is killed because I…

"I...I don't believe…I can't believe that I could have committed any sort of sin in a past life to be in this position." At this sentence her voice dropped to a very soft whisper, allowing others to quickly butt in.3

"What about little Boushin and Seihana, you have your children to think of!" Mitsukake pointed out.

"I am not saying that I have nothing to live for due to his death as I do love my children, but with his death I cannot be happy again!"

Hotohori wanted nothing more then to go up and embrace her, but he did not as the alien look in her eyes hurt him so much.

He did not blame her one bit, as he understood how her past actually hurt and haunt her even now. After all these years of being lonely she was paranoid of being alone again when she finally found someone, and so she had held onto him tightly just as he clung onto her. They were so similar.

Unknown to Miaka, Hotohori also knew that Yuri was a bit angry at the altered past, because she did not felt that Miaka made any sacrifice at all. Also, Miaka had constantly been protected by her warriors, someone-usually Tamahome- would always be reassuring her that everything was alright, and that whatever happened was not her fault.

But because she was so eager for Miaka and her to have a loving relationship, she only whispered those doubts to him once, on that night. Just as he was, she was so desperate to be loved!4

Yuri knelt down and stretched her hands out, her face completely emotionless despite the tears that continued to stream down. Very softly she began to chant the summoning of Seiryuu again, now knowing all the words. The flat chanting seemed more haunting then the loud screams she had as it seemed to be devoid of any emotions.

She would have given it all up if it wasn't for the sake of her two beautiful children. Part of the reasons she loved her children was naturally because they were Hotohori's children as well, but she would have loved the children anyway just for the sole sake that they had been in her womb. For the unique wonder that her children was borne from her, an emotion all mothers feel, no matter how the children were conceived.

"Seiryuu come to us." She whispered. "We need you now."

As she finished speaking, the light around her shifted from her body to being in front of her, and her flapping garment and hair finally became still. Her outstretched hands remain stretched, as someone was holding onto them.

"Seiryuu." Yuri said softly, as he now stood in front of her, his clawed hands around her's. "Seiryuu, I have done as I was asked."

He nodded, and stepped forward so that he was directly in front of her. But it was to Miaka that he spoke first, although he did not shift his gaze away from his priestess.

"Summon Suzaku now, we cannot waste time."

As Miaka nodded and began to chant to Suzaku, he finally spoke to Yuri.

"Are you willing to lend me your body again?"

"I wish for Tenkou do die." She said firmly. "I will do anything."

He pulled her to him, and as their skin touched she felt his body being pressed into hers. He was entering her body a second time, and like the first time she summoned him, she would be a vessel that channelled his powers.

This would be different from the time that he possessed her body that night in Kutou, as it had been a moment when he temporarily controlled her body due to her state of mind. A method that could never be long, as giving her body to the god completely could result in the death of the priestess.

"Then summon Genbu and his priestess." He ordered.

Closing her eyes, she took off the necklace and held it in front of her, and began to whisper what Seiryuu was telling her. A few steps beside her, Miaka was doing the same with the mirror that was the shinzaho of Byakko.

Yuri felt her whole body shaking slightly while her hand was getting sweaty, as the chain seemed to be slipping slightly. This was natural, to summon a god was a very demanding task, and trying to call out another deity immediately after the first act was naturally even more hard.

That was why the priestesses need to have a very strong will, as the tasks require all their concentration. Tenkou's plan might have worked as Yuri would have been in a state of shock that prevent her from doing anything, especially an activity that was very difficult.

Once again, Yuri felt hands closing over her own hands. Opening her eyes, she saw her, Takiko, the priestess of Genbu. The younger woman smiled at her as she took the necklace out of Yuri's hold and placed it around her neck.

"So this day has finally come." Takiko said softly. "And so we finally meet again…" she was probably going to say more when she suddenly halted, a frown appearing on his face and it seemed as if she was listening to some one else speaking.

"Very well, Genbu, I will not waste anytime." Takiko said with a slight nod, before she turned around so that she stood beside Yuri, instead of being in front of her. "Together, we will summon our celestial warriors to us."

Yuri did not ask any questions, she only know that she must do what she was ordered right now.

Meanwhile, Tenkou launched another attack, only to have it deflected back due to the gods that were now presented in all four priestesses. Without meaning to, he recollected the day that he was first sealed: it was exactly like this day. The four gods standing around him in a circle with that haughty expression on their faces…

It became worse when the twenty eight celestial warriors were all present, symbolising the day when he thought that he would never be free again. He had been in his prison when he looked up to see the four priestesses around the seal, with their seven celestial warriors beside them- strengthening his seal.

"I refuse." He clenched out. No matter what he wanted to break free of his seal, to take all that he rightly deserved.

"The four gods gave you a chance, Tenkou," Suzuno stated quietly. "They sealed you instead of killing you, hoping that you would one day change. But not only did you not try to redeem yourself, you even attempt to break free of your seal to do destruction upon this world."5

"For that, you will now die." Takiko said firmly.

The priestess of Genbu had so many things that she wanted to say to the priestess of Seiryuu, starting with an apology for all that had happened on that day, as she now knew that she might have easily done all that Yuri had.

Now is not the time, Takiko, Genbu told her firmly, as she turned to look at the priestess of Seiryuu once again. The other woman was slightly pale, but her face was determined: she would carry out her duty.

Tenkou would be destroyed forever when the four gods combined their power through their priestesses with their celestial warriors. This was what should have been done when Tenkou first gained his dark powers.

Yuri closed her eyes again, ready to perform the final step. She closed her eyes because she could not bear to look at the faces of those whom she betrayed: her celestial warriors, along with the face of those whom she had hurt: the priestess of Suzaku and some of her celestial warriors.

The moment Seiryuu entered her body, she was freed from the illusionary world which she had been trapped in. She knew that Hotohori was alive, and could not help but to feel slightly ashamed at all that she had expressed due to thinking that he had died.

But now was not the time to think about such things, she must only concentrate on this one thing.

* * *

The chanting of the four priestesses grew louder as they all began to release their words together, as well as receiving the energy their celestial warriors were giving to them to increase their powers.

"With the power of Seiryuu…" Yuri cried out loudly, even as the others stated the names of their own god, "Let the being Tenkou be destroyed forever."

The blue light shoot out to mingle with the other three lights, piercing right through Tenkou's shield. Cursing, he fell down, only to quickly raise his hand in disbelieve.

It was bleeding, what had not happened since the day he was killed in front of the people he was meant to one day rule, the execution ordered by the man who had been his own father. The very same city would end up being ravaged so much that it end up as only a piece of wild lands, as even the ruins of the once magnificent palace disintegrated completely, while every single person had died.

He had personally made sure that no one would survive, especially the one he once called father.

The four priestesses were no long visible, instead, he was kneeling in front of the executioner's block once more. He had been forced to be beheaded on the very top of the city, so everyone could witness the deed.

He saw the numerous faces below him again, some were jeering, others averted their gaze while the last group were muttering some sort or prayer in hope that this would be the last time they would hear of him.

There was not a single face that was filled with sadness or pity.

Even his own father, who stood right in front of him, was looking at him with nothing but disgust at what he had ended up as. He found it so hard to believe that this was the same man who used to smile whenever he saw his third son: the son he made into his heir despite many protests.

His father was saying something to his people…the same thing he had said on that day, a speech of apology at what the son he had once been so proud of had committed, there were no words of sadness, or even regret at all.

How could I have found peace with such a death? He said to himself angrily, as he saw the axe rising once more.

I will…I will find a way to have my revenge on them all! He repeated these very same words but unlike last time, the final thing he saw was the descending axe.6

* * *

Now that Tenkou was finally destroyed forever, each of the four priestesses turned to their warrior, in relief, in happiness and even just because they were there.

Unlike Takiko, Suzuno and Miaka, Yuri did not receive any embraces from her seven celestial warriors. They still stood a few paces apart from her, surrounding her in the circle of seven as everyone did in the ritual.

Not that she wanted to be like the other three priestesses, she only looked at them, just as they observed her. She did not even realize their presence until she began to feel the presence of their spirit as the four priestesses began to chant with the god that they served. At that time, she was unable to spare any attention, and if she could-she would be looking at Hotohori.

She had only seen these seven who were meant to protect her once, just before Seiryuu was summoned. Then…she had ended all of their life with her own hands, all for the sake of Hotohori, a celestial warrior of Suzaku.

He was alive, she knew that now, she also knew that as soon as she turned her gaze to look at him, he would notice her eyes resting on his immediately and he would run to her to gather her in his arms.

But she did not fix her gaze on Hotohori, she continued to look at her seven celestial warriors. Strange as it was, they all seemed to be watching her with smiles in their eyes, if they were not smiling already. She was deeply surprised as she could still recollect the anguish and curses they had possessed and hurled just before she ended their lives.

Nakago, with a strange gentle smile, was probably the celestial warrior that she knew the most, the one who sought to manipulate her completely, but it was the woman beside him: Soi, who haunted her the most. Were they really different? The woman she had become in the very end was not unlike Soi, who would sell her own soul to do anything for the one that she love. Yuri could not help but to laugh as she recalled how she did not become the priestesses of Suzaku because she had been afraid of dying.7

Strangely, Soi was not what she had remembered, instead of armours the woman was in a rather fancy dress with her long hair decorated by flowers.8

On the other side of Nakago was a barely recognizable man, he was a rather young man with long dark hair that was rather similar to Hotohori's hair in texture, colour and length, the main difference was that he gathered it up in a high pony tail instead. Yuri could barely recognize him as Tomo, who had painted a strange mask on his face.9

Then she saw the twins, probably the only unchanged face, although they were more happy as they were together again. Ashitaire was beside them, with his death he finally escaped the beast part in him that always haunted him.

But it was the last man, she truly could not recollect having seen him before. By default, she worked out that he was Miboshi, but there was not a hint of similarity that everyone else possessed, however little.

He seemed a man who almost escaped his teens, no more then nineteen, but certainly above eighteen. He was actually a rather striking man to look upon with relatively attractive features. Strangely, his hair was the same unusual shade of light blond like Nakago's, but his eyes were a very dark brown that almost seemed black.

Looking at him made Yuri thought of Hotohori, there seemed to be something similar in their bearing and posture.10

Unable to bear this silence anymore, she finally spoke.

"I am sorry for what I did, but I do not regret it, so I cannot apologise." She finally stated softly.

Much to her surprise, those that she killed answered by a laugh, or a smile.

"It is true that we hated you, and cursed you even as you killed us." Nakago began, speaking for his following companions. "But with our death, we gained the peace that we lost long ago. We are happy in death, what few of us actually possessed when we lived. This happiness is given to us by you, even though you didn't intend it, but we still thank you nonetheless.11

"Without you," at this point Nakago actually knelt down, but Yuri knew that this time, he was sincere instead of doing the action as a way of controlling and deceiving her. "We would not be able to find this peace even though we would still die. You are our priestess and only you could help us. You did help us, so I thank you for what you did.

"You all are happy then." Yuri finally said. "But why…why is it that we had to meet that way?"

"It was our fate for what we had done." The strange man who was Miboshi spoke rather sadly, at the recurring look of disbelieve from Yuri he smiled and assured her: "I am Miboshi, priestess, this is what I truly looked like, this is my true body.

"It seems that all the celestial warriors as well as the priestess of Seiryuu are cursed with knowing great despair." He continued sagely, despite the seemingly youthful experience, he was well over two hundred when he died. "But most of us ended up wanting to repay the world back for what it inflicted on us, or at the very least we ended not caring.

Soi and Yuri were probably the only ones who managed to not fall as deep as the rest, but their lonely childhood made them loving the one that they love with an additional almost frightening gratitude, that they would literally do anything for the sake of the one they love if they needed to. The twins were rather similar to them too.12

Nakago did not want to be a god for the simple sake of power, he did it because he wanted revenge; Ashitaire was so cruelly treated that he really believed everyone deserved to die; likewise Tomo had little scruples in harming another; while Miboshi was perhaps the very worst.

"Who are you then?" why was it that she was possessed with the desire of wanting to know more about them, instead of going to Hotohori? Maybe it was because she finally had the chance to be what Miaka was to the celestial warriors of Suzaku, with her own celestial warriors.

I rather have love from a few, instead of being worshiped by a whole kingdom, she realized, I always want that.13

Miboshi smiled and he turned to look at Takiko and the warriors of Genbu. Somehow, Uruki happened to catch his gaze, and his eyes suddenly widened and he even raised a hand to rub them.

"He is seeing my father's image in me." Miboshi explained. "My father was Hakei, during the arrival of the priestess of Genbu he was the future emperor of Kutou and he sought the destruction of Hokkan. He also wanted to kill me."

As Hakei told Uruki, he would never accept the arrival of the priestess of Seiryuu, or any of her celestial warriors. Ironically, within a month his son, the first celestial warrior of Seiryuu was born from his favourite concubine: a beautiful woman from the Hin tribe. But no amount of beauty could have aided the child from his father at all.

"Since the moment I was born, I had been constantly escaping from assassins, which made me want to live even more, just to show them that I would live. I ended up learning all sort of dark magic for the sake of power that would help me to live. When I was almost nineteen, one of the assassins finally managed to be 'successful' as he burnt this body-my real body. That was the night I first possessed a child, which was also the night that I truly lost any chance of redemption." Miboshi concluded the story.

"Priestess of Seiryuu, I told my story to you not because I want your pity as I know that what I did was wrong. But I want you to understand why I ended up as what I was."

"I too, I do not ask you to forgive me for what I almost done to your sister." Tomo added, "But I do not want you to hate me if you ever think of me."

Raising her hands to her eyes Yuri realized that she was actually crying due to them. As they said, she could not remember them all with love and affection as the other priestesses would, or might have. But she was happy with the mere knowledge that her celestial warriors might have loved her, as the others' warriors did.

Fate was still cruel, but right now she would describe it as unkind instead of malicious. Most importantly of all, she understood why they were her celestial warriors, because they were very much like her.

"We must return now," Nakago said, putting his arm around Soi's waist, but much to his surprise, she actually shook his hold off to walk up to their priestess, and put her hands over Yuri's.

"Yuri and Kaen are so alike." Soi stated softly.14

"Although I was luckier then you," Yuri nodded, "But yes, we are so alike. I would have done all that you did."

"We will meet again," the other woman prophesised, "Do not be afraid of dying, because we will all be there to guide you to that place, and we will all welcome you."15

Then the celestial warriors of Seiryuu were all gone

"Seiryuu, are you not leaving too?" Yuri asked softly, as she felt herself sinking to the ground, the last of her strength finally fleeing due to what she just did. Likewise, the same thing was happening to Miaka. But one man was walking away from his priestess to run to her instead. It could only be Hotohori…she soon knew that she was gathered into his arms and he was holding her against him so tightly.

But she was no longer there, instead, she was standing beside Seiryuu in his temple, with her statue below his dragon form. Walking up to it she unclasped the jade headdress and rewound it around the statue's lifelike hair before she turned to face Seiryuu, without him telling her, she knew that she would not see Seiryuu again until the day that she dies.

"Are you happy with what you discovered?" he only paused slightly to allow her head to nod, as he guessed it would. "Do you still hate me and the others for making you the priestess of Seiryuu instead of Suzaku?"

"I still think that Miaka is luckier to be the priestess of Suzaku." Yuri stated. "I don't think I will ever be happy that I have to go through such despair in order for your summoning, but I understand why now.

"I am the priestess of Seiryuu, I can be no other because that is who I am. As for hatred, yes, when I thought that Hotohori died I did hate the whole world, including you. But it was an instinctive hatred."

She could feel Hotohori's arms on her, and she could only wonder how she must appear to him and hope that he was not worrying too much.

She knew that she must do something alone first, although she would tell Hotohori every single detail of her action. It was just like what had happened in Konan, when Hotohori talked with his younger brother in the room where he had witnessed the death of their older brother. He had whispered everything to her that night, but he had to be with his brother alone.

She still loved him so much, but yet she could not go to him immediately. Just as he had his duty of being the emperor of Konan, as well as a celestial warrior of Suzaku, she must finish her last task as the priestess of Seiryuu: to understand his teachings as it was meant to be received.

"Despair was not meant to end up like this." At last, Seiryuu spoke. "Despair exists alongside love because it is meant to work alongside love, to let people appreciate their lives. Tell me the truth, are you not able to value your life more because of all that you had underwent when you were my priestess?" seeing the nod he continued. "Despair, like all other emotion, is not purely good or bad, I will not explain about the negatives of love because I think you already understand that too well.

"But my own people, even most of the seven chosen ones, did not understand. Instead of being grateful for their present situation they sought to achieve happiness by inflicting the same pain that they had undergone."16

"Nonetheless it is not something easy." Yuri protested. "No matter what, love…" she suddenly paused when she recollected what happened to many of the celestial warriors of Suzaku due to love: Hotohori almost died when she left him; because of his sister's death Nuriko ended up abandoning his gender in order to capture her memory; Chichiri and Mitsukake were both haunted by their lovers' death; while she heard that Taisuki almost violated a girl he loved as much as a sister due to loving her a bit too much.

As for herself, what might she have become?

"I understand now." She whispered.

"But it is also true that I have made you suffer much by making you into my priestess." Seiryuu suddenly said.

"You do not mean what you did to me in this life, do you?" Yuri asked sharply. "I know by now that I had a past life, a life before I became Houki Yuri, then Houkigou."

At this, Seiryuu only nodded. "But do you really desire to know what had happened, what had caused all this to be? Do you really wish to know?" he asked softly.

At his last sentence, Yuri shivered, as they were exactly what Hikitsu had asked her, just before he used his power to let her see the past.

"What would be the right thing to do?" she questioned her deity. "Is it to remember my past and be strong by coming to term with it? Or will real strength be ignoring the opportunity of discovering the truth because I know I will not be able to face it?"

This time, it was Seiryuu's turn to recollect what had happened a long time ago. She had been dressed in a much more plain blue dress, as she was merely one of the servants in the temple- not an official. She was actually clutching to a broom as she had been doing her daily duty of sweeping when he first approached her.

"What would be the right thing to do?" she had said these very same words as he told her his decision of making her into his chosen one by making her into the priestess of Seiryuu. "Is it to accept this destiny of being a priestess, to be my country's protector along with the deity whose temple I am raised up in? Or should I follow my own wish and refuse, as I know that I would not be a good priestess because all I ever wanted is to live a normal life like most other girls?"

How could he bear to tell her all that which had happened? Beginning with how he forced her into a life that she did not want.

"I do not desire happiness from power, or from doing something noble. The type of happiness I desire will be from finding a man that I love and marrying him, as well as having children with him. That has been what I had wanted every since I was old enough to understand." She had stated clearly.

The four gods all had to select a young virginal girl from their kingdom to be their priestess- channelling the four gods' power by giving them their body as their vessel- and she was the one he had chosen, although she made it clear that all she wanted was to be able to leave the temple and live a normal life.

They also existed for the sake of making sure that Tenkou remained sealed, that was one of their duties.

Perhaps what happened to his priestess was a punishment for him as well.

She had done her duties until the day she saw Hotohori, the celestial warrior of Suzaku. They ended up as lovers in every sense, even though she was meant to remain virginal.

Then the punishments, when she was denounced by the three other priestesses, and almost all the other celestial warriors for doing what she did. For some reason they seemed to have thought that they, who were made to judge men, also had the power to judge those a level higher.

The four gods had chosen their priestesses as well as creating seven celestial warriors for each one from the twenty eight constellations as a way of preventing injustice and cruelty over their kingdom. Instead, one of these celestial warriors ended up dying due to the other's misjudgement, while his priestess ended up so furious with what happened that she almost ended up working for Tenkou.

Would she be able to accept the fact that in her depression, she had listened to Tenkou's lies, and was going to take the shinzaho to him, only to be driven to suicide due to her guilt at how far she had fallen, and would have fall?

Then Hotohori went insane with grief as he saw her dying, the celestial warrior of Suzaku ended up staining his sword due to being possessed, with the first sacrifice being the woman who was the beloved of his dearest friend.17

Most of, how would she react to the truth that the priestesses and celestial warriors were not sent down to help their selective kingdoms, but were cast down in punishment due to what had happened on that day?18

"I cannot tell her all that had happened in the past." Seiryuu realized. "She would find out when she finally dies- when this all end- but that is not until some years later."

He stretched his hand out and gently placed it against her brow. Her eyes immediately became vacant, and her hands slumped to her sides.

"I will not let her know." Seiryuu decided, he pressed his hands slightly- causing a blue light to surround them.

When he finally withdrew his hand, her eyes were closed.

"You will not even remember anything that is related to what had happened." Seiryuu stated softly as he picked her up in his arms, about to return her to Hotohori. "And I will make sure that no one else does too.

"You will be able to have a life that is only filled with happiness…the sort of happiness which you had always longed for, what I took you away from."

* * *

1 I know Yuri is being rather harsh and unreasonable here but I think it is understandable considering her life. She had spent the majority of her childhood/teenage hood unloved by anyone, and it might even be fair to say that she had suffered mental and emotional abuse, being constantly reminded that her presence is running the family, and now it appears as if her husband is dead, and she loves Hotohori so much so I guess a nervous break down. You can say that he represents all the good thing in her life: her children, her new family. Later on she'll use the following concepts to explain: when you are in love every thing seems perfect and you love everyone, but when you are in despair you end up hating every single person. Maybe I shouldn't publish the sequel on the basis that everything seems like a repetition.

2 I was reading Ayashi no Ceres, aka Ceres, celestial legend when I wrote the following and I have the picture of the transformation to Ceres in mind, so that is what I tried to do with Yuri. Speaking of that I actually really like how Ceres is drawn.

3 In relation to my prologue story- in a way what she did in her past life affects this life, but she did still have the hard deal as what happened in that past life was no full fault of her.

4 This refers to the middle of chapter one.

5 I really don't know much about Suzuno as we only recently discovers about Takiko in Genbu Kaiden, but I do want to make it clear that she is coming out and as a priestess she is as important as everyone else, although she doesn't say much in this story.

6 Initially I was really afraid that it was going to be quite an anit-climax, just a…someone he disappears and get kills, but I like what ended up. The whole thing about Tenkou's execution, how he was seeing his past again. I suppose I am using the idea of seeing montages of your life as you dies.

7 I suddenly realized that bit, so I had to explain it. Initially Yuri didn't tell Hotohori that she was not from this world as she was afraid that she would have to be the priestess of Suzaku and die, but by the end of the two years she really ended up being in love so much that she would do anything for him, including dying and killing. Maybe I should mention this in the front, when Tenkou instructs Miiru and Rin.

8 I really like Soi's character, especially how she is feminine yet strong. I love the little detail of her lipstick, showing her actual desire of being feminine. According to the author, she would have loved to draw Soi in a bridal gown beside Nakago (there is a picture of Soi wearing a bridal gown of one of the native Chinese tribe in one of the chapter covers. It's sixty something…)

Another thing, in hidden secrets I always call Soi Soh but it seems that she is called Soi. I don't know why but I thought she was call Soh, so my deepest apology and I am feeling very guilty for having spell the name of my second favourite character wrong.

9 Tomo is actually drawn quite good looking, so I almost think that it is a shame that he have to have that weird mask. I'm sorry to say but I rather him not having the mask instead of Chichiri. I mean…the first time I saw a picture of him without the mask, as himself I was actually pretty shock. Ok…to be honest I was shocked only after I worked out who the heck that guy is.

10 All this bit I am making up completely. And as Yuri guessed correctly, his mother is from the same tribe (Hin I think) as Nakago, and he is also of royal blood. Being of one those who was naturally born with such royalty and posture. 

11 I want to get this through, this idea: that the warriors of Seiryuu are not evil, it is the harsh circumstances that they had that ended up making them evil, or at the very least they become cruel and harsh. So even though they are all going to be rather out of character, I'm saying that it is because they are dead, and gained the peace and understanding that only death could bring. And technically they were sent down by heaven with the purpose of helping a kingdom, so I strongly believe now that they are actually all good people.

12 Although the more I think about and write this story the more Soi and Yuri seemed to resemble each other, and the darker her character seem to become. She does love Hotohori because she truly love him, not because out of mere gratitude, in fact this was one of the things she was afraid of, hence why she only married him three months after their meting. In the same way I really don't think Soi loved Nakago just because he saved her, but that was something additional to what she feels for him. I think I won't publish this as it just seems too…strange even for me? I think Yuri would have ended up doing what Soi would do, but Yuri is luckier then Soi by far, because in this story Hotohori really loves her back in a very strong way too.

13 An interesting thing that I thought of about Hotohori in regard to Fushigi Yugi and I am including this in my story. What is better? The love of the one person that you love, or the worship of a whole nation. I regard this as kind of what Hotohori went through in the end, he did not have the love of Miaka, but he knew that his people loved him in the worshipful way. Which is what is happening to Yuri in this story as well, in the beginning. She was not loved by her celestial warriors, but yet the whole of Kutou worships her. I think for Yuri and for Hotohori, they rather have the first- to be love back by the one that you love.

14 Kaen is Soi's real name, and it is one of the most beautiful name I have ever seen.

15 I know that in Fushigi Yugi everyone get reincarnated but I never like the idea of reincarnation, that always seem to be so tragic. To always have to part those dear to you and loose them after you find them, the possibility that you never see them again. I just can't do that, so everyone is going to some sort of heaven, although it seems that the celestial warriors were from heaven in the first place.

16 Kamiyasu (the new emperor of Kutou) is a very good example of understanding the teaching of despair the right way,

17 I'm sure you guys can figure out who the guy is, who his 'best friend' was, although the woman might not be that easy as she is a change from the original story.

18 Well, I think this would have got quite confusing but it is all related to the prologue, and I guess what I just give is a very dehydrated version of my prologue story. As I said, I know that some people would probably not like this, but hey- I just want to do it, so well…it's done. I'll explain this in more details as it does get confusing, or you can just ignore this bit and pretend it never happened. I wouldn't blame you if you choose to do this. Seriously, no hard feelings at all if you don't really like my prologue story's idea. I think it is a pretty crazy idea.

It might be a good idea to re-read certain bits: Chapter 1: When Yuri recollected what she remembered after her death- what she had seen, as well as Hotohori's dream at the very end of the chapter; Chapter 5: in the very beginning of the chapter- when Tenkou was talking about Yuri; Chapter 6: The parts when Hikitsu come out- especially when he begin to talk about the last time he saw Yuri, as well as his mentioning of not wanting the past to repeat again; and the beginning to this chapter- what Tenkou said to her as well as the bit when Takiko comes out, what she thought about Yuri. And of course, what Seiryuu just said. Hopefully when you re-read them after this footnote it'll be 'oh I understand now'.

Basically the four gods needed to select a priestess and they did. The priestess were a bit like intercessors, and the gods stay in their body, so they have to be virginal. The priestess also served as judges for some cases, some mortal feel they did not receive justice, so they would go to the temple and pray to the gods, and the priestess was meant to answer them and give them a judgement. By being a priestess, they were sort of immortal- like their celestial warriors, but they were still not on the same level as the four gods. What happened is that Yuri was technically sinning by being with Hotohori as she was meant to be virginal, and the others found out and as a result they were angry with her- and she and the one they believed to be her partner in crime (they didn't realize it was Hotohori) were trialled, even though only the four gods had the right to judge and punish her. Due to what happened Tenkou tried to get her to betray the others, and she was so depressed and angry that she agreed, only to realize how foolish she was, so she committed suicide, and Hotohori naturally got really angry and Tenkou ended up possessing him.

The four beast gods then decided that everyone has been in the wrong somehow- either by merely taking some part in it, or not doing something to stop the tragedy (the deaths), so they were all cast down in order to meet their priestesses and re-find the shinzaho and summon their gods. As for why the priestesses ended up being from the other world, I can only say, it is because it is what happens in the original story and I only got this idea in the writing of buried memories, so I guess there will be some contradiction.

* * *

_Author's Note: Only the epilogue to go! Well, I will first guarantee that Yuri and Hotohori will be happily ever after so there will be no more stories. I know that I said this in Hidden Secrets as well, but there was the whole thing about volume 14-18 that I didn't have in hidden secrets, so there really will be no more sequels. I mean, even if I want to, there is nothing I can write! There will eventually be a prequel however, but it deals with their past, not the future at all. Honestly, their future from now on is almost the fairy tale happy ever after- with only some minor drawback like dealing with every day life. The epilogue is just for the sake of tying all the loose end up, and a previously unnamed male character is going to come out and I desperate need a name for him! I'll be happy if anyone can give me a name!_

_What I mentioned about the prologue is basically the outline for my prologue story, although it is not in as much detail and if any of you would like to one day read it then please tell me, as I do feel a bit nervous about writing that. But Genbu Kaiden fan fiction is first, although I don't really know when I'll be doing that. I am actually debating whether I should included some random preview in Buried Memories as well…I kind of have the overall story plot and some scene, but I'm worried that I'll write an extract and post it, then I'll write the actual story, and it wouldn't be included. But please do tell me if you want a preview, or want to read my prologue, or want to do anything._

_By the way the other day I just posted a long as fushigi yugi review up on my blog! Do pay a visit and leave a comment if you find it interesting! By the way, do feel free to contact me for any reason if you want to! Whether it be discussing fushigi yugi or anything!_


	11. Epilogue

_Author's Note: the last chapter! Well, not even the last chapter, just the epilogue. Basically this is just showing that everything is now fine and will be fine. And even though I haven't really got any answers in regard to my comments, I will probalby be posting a preview of my next fan fiction- a bit of an advertising, although I'm not even sure whether that bit would be included in the fan fiction when I actually start to write it._

* * *

She was awake even before her eyes opened, as Yuri could hear the crying of her two children- a sound that she has not heard for such a long time. At their crying she instantly felt a slight pang in her heart, so she quickly sat up.

Upon doing so, she saw that she was now dressed in one of her sleeping attires, and she was lying over a futon. Raising her hand she touched her head, and was satisfied in knowing that the jade headdress was no longer there, but back to it's proper place: on her statue in the temple of Seiryuu.

"You are awake." Her husband greeted her with a gentle kiss as he handed her one of their children, who immediately ceased their crying due to being in the arms of their mother after their father had lifted them out of their cradle.

At the sight of their two beautiful children, Yuri couldn't help but to smile, even though she had many questions to ask Hotohori…Seishuku.1

"We are at Ryoen's apartment, he will be staying in Ju-An's room until we leave. It seems more suitable for us to use my brother's apartment." Seishuku quickly explained, crouching to sit beside her, "It…it has been three days since we all returned to Tokyo."

"What has happened?" she asked simply.

He began to explain how both she and Miaka had remained unconscious even though they left the universe of the four gods, and even though Yui said that her parents would not be home until a few days later, Ryoen had insisted on giving his room to 'his brother and sister'.

"He is most concerned about you." Seishuku said with a slight smile,

"He is trying to make amends." Yuri said, she too was smiling. "I think I will be able to forgive him quite quick."

"Quicker then Miaka?"

"Ryoen is trying, she is…she has not."

"I believe that will soon change." Seishuku commented as he took a letter out from his sleeves and placed it on the empty space on the futon. "This is from Miaka."2

Upon receiving the letter she naturally leant forward to pick it up, but much to her surprise, Seishuku took her hand into his instead, preventing her from opening it.

"I do not deny that what is in there is important, but what concerns me the most right now is you." He stated gently, but firmly. "Yuri, please tell me what happened. What did Seiryuu…"

Nodding, she began to explain everything to him: what Seiryuu's true teaching was. At one point she almost wept, because she was recollecting all that which had happened to her celestial warriors, while she was happy that they all made peace, it was still impossible to not feel sad at their sufferings.

"So this is Seiryuu's true teaching." He said quietly when she finally finished speaking, by this time he had placed his arms around his wife and their two children, as she ended up shaking slightly. "In a way it is so obvious…"

"But often the simplest thing ends up so complicated." Yuri replied grimly, her tone very clear and almost emotionless. "It is bad to only know love, but yet to never taste love is the worst punishment there can ever be. In the same way to only experience despair will bring nothing but pain, but it is also the knowledge of despair that creates happiness."

"So sayth the priestess of Seiryuu." Seishuku added, understanding why she was suddenly being so formal.

"Who spoke for the last time as Houki Yuri." Yuri finished before she turned around to gently kiss her husband. "I do not know how you can understand so much without me telling you, I do not think that I will ever know, but I am clever enough to be grateful."

He only smiled, as he was afraid that his voice would chock if he tried to speak, what happened was deeply symbolic: it meant that Yuri would never have to be the priestess of Seiryuu again in this life, they would be able to truly live in peace as they were now both free of their duties.

They were also lucky for having no fear of death at all, as they already knew what would happen when that day arrived. They would be able to go back to the heaven which they had come from, and without anyone telling them, the two of them knew that the life would only be happy after all that had happened.

Something had happened, and maybe it was something bad, but neither of them could recollect what had happened, and as a further insurance of making sure that no one would remember the past, they were made to not care about what had once happened.

"We have about four days in Tokyo before we return to Konan." Seishuku told her, glancing at the calendar when Ryoen had pinned onto his wall. He smiled as he read his brother's scrawl over the whole paper: what was once so important would now almost be light hearted due to the adventure they had undergone in the universe of the four gods.

"Haha…" Yuri whispered to herself, before bending her head down to kiss her two children. "I want them to meet my Haha."

"We can go now."

At the suggestion of visiting the cemetery now, Yuri immediately nodded. Even though Seishuku and Yuri had told everyone else that the urgent excuse of visiting Yuri's mother was only said in order for them to have a way to let them leave now, both of them knew that it was not true.

But they led other to believe it was that because the others would insist the two of them going to the cemetery first. They did not lie due to any lack of love, but it was more due to an understanding. Yuri understood that she must enter the universe of the four gods first, that was what must be done as quickly as possible. But her wish of taking her children to her mother had never once dimmed.

"Shall we still take that strange curry to her?" Seishuku asked, recollecting how Yuri had spent the night before his fist visit to her mother's grave making some kind of Indian curry that ended up as bright orange. Even though Yuri had explained to him many times that the curry was meant to be that colour, he was still not convinced.3

"That was her favourite food." She said with a light smile, even though her eyes were slightly teary due to the memories of her dead mother. "She loved curry more then any other type of food, and we would go to this curry restaurant at least once a month- even though it was rather expensive. Haha selected many different type of curries as I can still remember all the weird colour food she had: orange; green; yellow... But that orange curry appeared more time on her plate then any other."4

* * *

As he watched Yuri placing the bowl of curry she had purposely brought for her mother so carefully onto the small grave, he had to smile, as he wonders whether she had been that careful with the shinzaho of Seiryuu!

He had been relatively nervous when he first came here with her, as he was rather worried about the unknown woman's approval even though it really did not matter. But even though Yuri's mother was dead, she was still a very important presence in Yuri's life, only she was no longer as dominating as she had once been.

Throughout the visit he had been rather tense, looking at many things as a signal- such as the slight chill that suddenly arrived, or the leaves being blown across her grave. He only relaxed when Yuri told him that she felt the perfectly lovely day was a sign of her mother being very happy.

"Not that it matters that much," she had added, "but I am so much happier to know that she is pleased."

After she placed the food down, Yuri leant forward to trace her finger over her mother's engraved name on the stone: Houki Chiai. Much to her surprise, there was not much dust in there despite the absence of what must be the only few visitors. Yuri had no way of contacting her maternal relatives, so it seems that they probably did not even know about her mother's death.

Of course, the rather tidy grave did not arouse her suspension from her, as she concluded that it must be due to a very dutiful caretaker. Likewise, she did not regard the middle age man a few steps away as an unusual sight.

"Haha, I am still very happy in my marriage to Seishuku," Yuri began, "I am very happy in Konan, and his parents even love me as if I am their own child, in a way, I feel as if I have parents again. Do not ever worry that I am not happy." Turning to her husband, who has knelt down beside her, she took the two children from him and held it toward the grave. "You are a grandmother now, these two beautiful children are your grandchildren."

Not far away, the other visitor in the graveyard chocked as he heard what Yuri just said, but this went unnoticed by both Yuri and Seishuku, as they were both fixing their eyes on Houki Chiai's grave.

He began to walk toward them, until he finally placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Who are you?" Yuri demanded as she turned around to face the 'stranger', automatically holding her children away from him.

Seishuku instinctively took a step forward to stand in front of his wife and children while his hand immediately went to grasp his sword, only to realize that he was not in a time where he would carry his weapon out onto the streets.

"I am not…I am not going to do anything." The man quickly said, raising his two hands into the air. The truth was that he was a bit upset that Yuri would even consider such a thing, as it meant that she truly had not the faintest idea of who he was.

But then how could he blame her?

"My name…my name is Yuki Akira."5

"Yuki…" Seishuku repeated the last name with a frown as he was sure that he had heard of it before.

At the last name, Yuri's face immediately darkened, and she wonder whether she would rather meet a maniac instead of this man whom she had not seen for more then seven years or so, although he would have a slightly different memory from her due to what Miaka had asked Suzaku had done.

But the fact that she had moved out of the house when she was only fifteen years old has not changed. She had immediately left when she finally finished junior high school and was able to work full time, what she had wanted to do for quite sometime. The only reason that she stayed was because that was what her mother would have wanted.

Either way, she still remembered the day that he simply left.

"What do you want?" she asked bluntly. "After seven…five years of complete neglect…no, even more then that…you show up in front of me. You certainly can't expect me to welcome you with loving arms and call you chichi."6

"I can understand that." Akira said sadly, as he turned away from his daughter's cold eyes. She really looked so much like Houki Chiai, the woman whom he had briefly loved. The two of them were both so beautiful in a womanly way, but unlike the mother, the daughter lacked that air of irresponsible enchantment. Perhaps the problem with Yuri was that she looked too much like her mother that her father could never be sure that she really was his daughter as well.7

"I…I am not Miaka or Keisuke. I have more to blame you for then you divorcing your wife and never let any of them hear from you again. None of us know where you went." Yuri continued quietly. "But for me, you had disappointed me since the day I entered your house after my haha's death."

"That man is your father?" Seishuku asked her as he placed an arm around her once more in order to comfort her, at her nod, he gently pulled her closer to him, hoping to sooth her somehow.

"I decided to become one of the staff in my company's American expansion." He began again, "and business was busy, so it was a way of diversion. Then I…then I decided to return to Japan because I wish to see my children."

"You children? Do they even include me?" Yuri jabbed in bitterly, obviously remembering the neglect she had received from him.

He could do nothing but sigh as he looked into her dark eyes once more, in truth he was not sure of what he was going to do, so he decided that the easiest thing was to visit Houki Chiai's grave first: she would give him no discouragement.

"Do you hate me so much, Yuri?" he finally asked, already prepared for the blow.

Much to his surprise, she actually shook her head.

"I don't hate you, I just can't forgive you so easily. I resent you for what you did but if you wish to patch things up then I a willing to try. In my life…" her voice softened slightly as she recollected the warriors of Seiryuu as well as her two maids in Konan, "I have met many people whom I grew to love, but whom I am no longer with, as well as people whom I will meet up with. I learnt that there are people whom we must part with when time pass, so if we miss an opportunity, we might never be able to meet with them again, and even if we do, it would not be what it was in this life.8

"I regard you as one of these people, so I don't want to regret missing the chance of mending things with you." She stated firmly. "It would not be easy, and it might appear that I hate you at times, but I truly do wish to make amends.

"So…so…" taking a deep breath she walked forward so that she was right in front of him, and then handed him the piece of paper that she quickly wrote her address on. "I hope you will write to me, and I will write back to you."

Gratefully, he accepted the paper. he thought about asking her in regard to the two children she held in his arms, but decided that it would be pushing his luck a bit too far.

"I…I think I am going." Yuri told him softly, but her tone was not as harsh as he had accepted. "I wish for to think first, but maybe…maybe we can meet before I leave Tokyo."

He made sure that his daughter and her family left before he knelt in front of Houki Chiai's grave, fixing his eyes on the name- originally covered by a rather deep layer of dust.

"Is that your doing?" He asked impulsively. "Is that your way of thanking me for tidying you grave?"

* * *

Yuri couldn't help but to turn to her mother's grave, and at the sight of her father kneeling in front of it, she suddenly realized that in a way, he had to make peace with himself in regard to her mother as well. In a way, her father was not so different from her.

She truly meant what she said to him, as she truly regret not being able to be with her two maids in that way that they had been- because that was a life she would never return too.

That was why she realize the importance of forgiving. She thought about the letter Miaka wrote to her, she would make amend with that too. This time, she knew that she would be able to love her sister without forcing her self too, as Miaka was trying to make amend- instead of just taking everything for granted.

As for her father, she would never able to love him as much as she loved her mother, and she doubt that she would ever call him chichi. But she believed that she would be able to have a father in the very end as well as both a younger sister and brother.

These objectives would be achieved, although the process of accomplishing them would prevent her life from being fully problem-free.

"Life will not be fully easy, because no life is perfect." She told Seishuku as they began to walk out of the graveyard once more. "But everything would be alright now.

"It will be because that is Seiryuu's promise to us."

Happily she leant back against Seishuku, even as her two children were sleeping in her embrace. This day seemed particularly lovely and right now, all she wanted is to be with her husband and their children.

There was nothing that prevented her from this. The two of them were walking back to Ryoen's apartment leisurely, as they no longer need to rush. As they past a row of shops, they heard a song being sung that made the two of them smile at one another.

_"If we are reborn_

_I will be born as myself_

_Then I will find you_

_Once again."_ 9

"I am reborn into this world as Seishuku and in a way, was I not searching for you?" Seishuku told Yuri as he kissed her again, "Then I found you once again."

"And I'll always be waiting for you." She told him lovingly. "I love you so much."

He was with her again, and she knew that they would never be separated again, because of that, she could safely say that their life would always be happy from now on.

* * *

1 Since they are back in Tokyo (Japan), they'll be using their real names once again.

2 This is totally random but I was reading a book set in ancient china, and they were talking about how during that dynasty people didn't have pockets so they would put everything in their sleeves and since the story talks about this thieve, they explained about how thieves would steal by slashing the sleeves. But basically, I'm presuming the people in fushigi yugi probably used their sleeves as pockets too.

3 I think this is quite a common eastern custom to place food on the grave of your loved one to eat, or even just somewhere. I came to New Zealand when I was only seven, but I visit my family in Taiwan and when we visit my granddad's grave (Taiwan), we actually brought food and placed it on the grave. But it doesn't always have to be done when you visit the grave, you can do this at home as well, my dad actually does this in our house (New Zealand) as well. When we have something we don't eat everyday, and/or is really special, he would place a plate of this food underneath the portrait for them to eat. It is the idea of giving food for them. I am Christian so I don't really believe this as I have my own belief in regard to this which is different from ancient tradition but I don't see any harm doing it, and it is a very affectionate sign too.

4 I am not 100 sure about this but most of the Japanese curries I have seen sold are a brownish shade, so not bright orange. I don't know why but I just want to have this bit- although it is not really relevant. But anyway, the curry that Yuri's mother likes is the Indian curry 'Butter Chicken'. Personal confession, that is my favorite curry of all time!!! (For anyone who haven't try it…try it! It is really so good!!!)

And as for Seishuku's reaction, he has spent most of his life in the country side's, so I think he probably wouldn't have much experience with foreign food. While Hotohori lives in feudal China!!!

5 This was the character who I mentioned needed a name, since no one helped… I just randomly made up a name for him. Well, apparnatly Akira is a popular enough first name for guys (think Ishida Akira and Kamiya Akira, both famous voice actors, and their name's kanji are actually different.) so I just decided to use Akira.

6 Yuri will be twenty two very soon, so Seishuku will either soon be twenty two or just having been twenty two, as he is only a few weeks older then her. Since she was about fifteen it'll be about eight or six years since her father left her (given that she was actually thirteen, but due to the altered time she ended up as being fifteen when he left her) the whole time thing.

And as the last name shown, the man is actually her and Miaka's father.

7 Just making sure, but Yuri really is his daughter.

8 Despite what I said, the idea of reincarnation is at work. Yuri and Hotohori/Seishuku will go to some form of heaven with the rest celestial warriors and the priestess, but everyone else would be reincarnated, like her mother and her two maids.

9 I really love inserting songs into fan fictions but I know that it can get to tideious if you insert too much so I have actually been very good in controlling myself. But when I saw this song I just felt that I had to use it. this song is called 'Eternal Wind' and it is from Ayashi no Ceres (which is another of Watase Yuu's brilliant work). I really love the song and when I hear that verse I just decided that I have to put it into buried memoires because I felt that it really describe what happens in regard to Hotohori and Yuri really well, especially in regard to the prologue story.

* * *

_Author's Note: YEAH!!! I finally finished Buried Memories, but you will note that it is not completed yet because I decided to include an extract from my next fan fiction, the Genbu Kaiden fan fiction. I am really happy that I finished Buried Memoires, although I am kind of sad, because I really do have fun writing this story- well, about Yuri and Hotohori in general. Although this would not be the last time that you hear from the two of them, as they will be coming up in the prologue story (I got to give it a title) but that will be prequel._

_As always, I ask for review, but this is the last time I will ask for review in regard to this story, because the next story is not really part of this story, it's like extract from another story. So…for the last time…if any of you readers actually like my story somehow and read the whole thing, then I implore you to leave me a review, as that will just make me really happy, and feel that all that I had done is worthwhile._

_The ending is probably a bit cheesy but I like it, and it is from Yuri's point of view because Hidden Secrets actually ended with Hotohori's point of view._


	12. Preview of Genbu Kaiden fan fiction

_Author's Note: I barely managed to keep my promise of finishing this story in December but due to a little accident (the family computer threw a tantrum, and my own computer really suck- it's a hand me down computer and it can't go on line. There is my sister's laptop but my pride refuse to let me ask her and use it. She is one of the many who treats her own laptop like a piece of china while she bangs on my computer on the rare occasions that she had to use my absolutely crap computer. Therefore, I have my pride). In the end, the desire of updating won, but I still kind of managed to keep my pride by using it without her knowing…(since my mum said that I could and I'm using if after she used it.) Yeah…the family computer's sickness causes a lot of problems in this house._

_First of all, I got the following idea when I only read the first 5 manga, although I have heard some of the stuff that happened in the soon to be volume six. So basically at the time I read it there is no Urumiya, so I made my OC into Urumiya. So in order to actually not find my fan fiction to weird, you will have to ignore the fact that Urumiya is actually that assassin, in my story he really is just the assassin._

_My story is called 'the flower of snow', originally I was going to use a Japanese title but decided that I better not as I don't really know Japanese. This is a Hikitsu x OC story, since I really like Hikitsu, as for why it is an OC story…eh…it just is. The OC is called Setsuka and she is actually Urumiya, but she refuses to accept the fact that she is a celestial warrior of Genbu, so she will be called Setsuka for most of the time. I admit that it is mainly due to the fact that I really like the name Setsuka. This is actually the same name as Sakurazuka Seishiro's mother, only that her name means snow glory while this Setsuka's name means show flower. There is an allusion to the title and the actual story should explain the meanings even more._

_Basically she and Hikitsu (who she would call Emutato), are childhood sweethearts, but were separated for quite sometime, and she suffered being an outcast of their tribe due to being a celestial warrior of Genbu (which is what happened to Hikitsu). But anyway somehow she joins Takiko and the rest, only that she is not joining them as a celestial warrior of Genbu, and she and Hikitsu are now lovers (they are both twenty-one). One more piece of information: Setsuka's special power as a celestial warrior is the ability of writing out something with her blood, and summon the animal. (ie. If she use her blood to write wolf onto the ground, she can actually summon a wolf, which will obey he until it get unsummoned due to being killed, or when she release them.)_

_As this is a Hikitsu story with Setsuka in it, the order in which Takiko discovers the celestial warriors are changed to allow these two to have more time together and come out more. 1Uruki; 2Tomite; 3Namame; 4Hikitsu; 5Urumiya (Setsuka); 6Hatsui and 7Inami._

_As this is only a preview I am going to do a footnote free extract (gasp gasp) and I just hope that it would make some sense. The story starts right after Takiko accepts Inami's challenge._

_Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. Genbu Kaiden is the work and creation of the very talented Watase Yuu._

* * *

Upon Takiko's agreement of fighting Inami without any interference, both Uruki and Tomite let out a cry of disbelieve, while Hatsui began to clutch onto Namame even tighter due to his increasing nervousness.

Hikitsu, however, continued to remain very calm, as his expression did not change at all. But Takiko felt that there was the faintest hint of approval on his face- the same emotion that she had seen when he observed how she gained Hatsui's trust.

He was not a man who allowed others to easily understand him, unlike the woman beside him: her emotions were always displayed openly onto her face, if they were not already performed or uttered out.

"I agree with that woman." Setsuka said as she released her hold on her sword. "A girl who constantly needs to be protected is not fit to be the protector of a whole kingdom."

Greatly maddened by what she just said, Uruki angrily turned to face the woman who was meant to be a celestial warrior of Genbu as well. He was also frustrated due to not being able to do anything for Takiko, so he wanted to lash out against someone.

Setsuka was the best target, even though she had been travelling with them for some time now. The elder woman still refused to acknowledge her fate as a celestial warrior, this was not unlike what many of them had been, but Uruki felt that there was a difference as she also possessed a personal vindictiveness towards Takiko: the priestess of Genbu. She was never rude or openly in-civilized on purpose, but her actions had cause Takiko to confess that she held little hope of persuading Setsuka to become Urumiya, as she was sure that the other was determined to hate her due to the pains she had experienced when her tribe discovered her to be a celestial warrior of Genbu.

"Perhaps what happened to you would have happened anyway." Uruki muttered to Setsuka viciously. "Surely those that you claim to have loved you so much could not have loved you that much, as they had been so willing to cast you out of the tribe!"

Her face immediately paled, and they had learnt that it was a sign of her being very angry, instead of only a bit maddened. Bracing himself, Uruki began to prepare for the slap or punch that he was sure would soon come. After all, she had already struck him at least once due to some accident that now seemed rather minor.

He was slapped very hard on the face, but it was not Setsuka who struck him.

It was Hikitsu.

Unlike the woman that he loves, Hikitsu rarely act on impulse. He usually managed to keep his emotions under some degree of control, and the only time they had seen him act very irrationally was the time when he started to tear at the flowers of snow due to the belief of Setsuka betraying the promise they had swore more then a decade ago. Even then, he had managed to politely ask them to excuse him before he almost broke down.

In order to cause him to instantly act on his impulse, Uruki realized that he must have said something that was very wrong.

"You…you go too far." Hikitsu hissed. "She…she does not…she does not deserve that." Then very quietly, he added. "Nor do I."

As his hand was still raised, it seemed quite possible for him to slap Uruki a second time. Tomite quickly grabbed Uruki in order to drag him away. He had become quite close with Hikitsu, and was able to accept the older man's rather strange mood, but now he was almost afraid of Hikitsu.

But Hikitsu's hand lowered as he used it to take off his eye patch in order to touch his right eye directly with his hand.

He felt as if his right eye was burning, a sign that something drastic was going to happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Takiko was to win along with discovering who Inami really was.

"You might have won, priestess of Genbu," the woman who was the last celestial warrior of Genbu said very coldly. "but I have no intention of accompanying a spoilt brat like you!"

Saying so, her hair began to grow and circle itself around all of them. Some of them managed to react fast enough by raising their hands to prevent it from being tied around their body by the hair, but they were still restrained by this unnatural weapon.

Hikitsu only has one hand free, as his other hand was held over his right eye to prevent the power working. Beside him, Setsuka was in a similar position, only that her hand was tied up completely due to her attempt of grabbing her sword.

"I dislike spoilt and rich girls like you." Inami stated to Takiko spitefully. "I…"

At her accusation Setsuka suddenly felt a deep pang of guilt. She had heard a little about Takiko's past from Tomite, and from what she discovered, the younger girl had a very harsh childhood…

The opposite of mine. She realized.

She saw herself as a child one more, learning the art of weaponry with Emutato right beside her, although the girls of the tribe were only meant to know about riding. But because she had wanted it, she was allowed to do what few girls had ever been able to.

Then there was her grandfather- the leader of the tribe who doted on her, because she was his only granddaughter. So, the whole tribe naturally treated her as if she was their princess. That, along with her loving parents, made her have pretty much all that she ever wanted.

Everything that I desired, she thought sadly, I managed to obtain.

"That is why I hate the priestess of Genbu so much." she whispered. "Because before I became a celestial warrior of Genbu- a monster to my own people, I was loved by all. I hate her so much, because I once had so much."

Raising her hand to her lips, she bit down hard, causing blood to splash onto the ground. Carefully, she began to shift her hand so that the bloods dripped to form a word.

The word tiger.

Quickly, her blood began to mould themselves into the living creature of the word that she had wrote. This was her power as a celestial warrior of Genbu. At this, Inami immediately attempted to strangle this creature that suddenly appeared, but the tiger easily dodged her hair.

"Free Takiko." Was the order of the one that summoned it.

Setsuka's voice was loud and clear, so everyone heard what she meant to say.

Inami tightened her hair's hold on Setsuka even as the tiger freed Takiko rather effortlessly. The younger woman immediately ran to the one who just saved her, hoping to do the same.

But her aid was no longer necessary.

As Hikitsu saw Setsuka chocking, he uncovered his eye.

Perhaps that was the most dangerous power given to any man, as who has the right to decide what hidden memories should surface? There was also the consequence of having a deep guilt due to making someone face what they had hid deep in their heart. For this reason, Hikitsu rarely used this power, but when he saw Setsuka in danger, he knew that he was willing to do something that he hated in order to help her.

Like all others who had the misfortune to look into his right eye, Inami was immediately affected. Unlike Tomite, her reaction was much more sever. She sank onto the ground with her eyes completely vacant, while her weapon fell down with a loud clang, and her hair began too loosen as they shrank back to their original length.

Confused and shocked at everything, Takiko walked pass the hand offered by Uruki's in order to kneel beside Hikitsu, who had caught Setsuka into his arms and was examining her neck- red with some of the flesh swelling in the shape of many thin lines.

"Are you alright?" he asked her gently, his fingers touching her skin very delicately.

Her lips curled into that mocking smile once again as she managed a whisper, her voice very hoarse. "Don't ask me stupid questions, Emutato. I almost got strangled, so how well do you think I can be?"

"You…you saved me." Takiko said shyly. "Why…"

"I felt that you were wrongly accused." Was Setsuka's blunt answer. "And if you weren't the priestess of Genbu, I'd be willing to admit that I actually quite like you."

"You don't hate me?"

"I don't deny that I tried to hate you, but the fact that I had to try is an indication that I don't really hate you. And the truth is." At this point she actually laughed, as she was rather relieved at this confession. "I find it very hard to dislike someone so similar to me."

Hikitsu smiled one of his rare smiles as he turned away from the woman he loves to observe his priestess. Setsuka was right, the two of them were very much alike. Both of them were rather unconventional by achieving very good skills with weaponry, as well as being very loud and fiery to the point that most men would describe as being immodest.

Perhaps that was why I start to like Takiko when I first heard her scold Uruki and Tomite, he thought, because she reminded me of Setsuka.

* * *

_Author's Note: I hope someone like it, and I guess it really is to show the character of Setsuka (my OC) as well as giving an indication of what the story would be like. As I mentioned before, I haven't really wrote my genbu Kaiden fan fiction yet, I only have plan of the story, so this extract might not be word for word when it arrive in the actual story. Ie, maybe Setsuka would have got over her 'hatred' for Takiko early etc etc._


End file.
